To Find a Cure
by LovelyGucci
Summary: She didn't fully understand the turmoil that Bruce felt having a 'monster' inside of him until she had one of her own, forced upon her. It started off as a research job to find a cure for this man...but unfortunately, it turned into so much more. Bruce Banner/OC/Peter Parker
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or Spiderman!**

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**Chapter One**

The temperature in the room was stifling. Reyna looked around the room at the others, seeing if anyone else was as affected by the heat as she was, forcing herself not to fan her face with her gloved hands. The other men looked just fine so she tried to focus on her work again.

'Guess it's just me…' she thought to herself.

It probably had to do with the fact that she knew she was being watched. The lab she was in was surprisingly vast and she could see many cameras littered around the ceiling.

When Reyna found out about the job opening, she knew something like this; a research job was what she wanted to do. Having a lab practical as part of the interview process, however, was not what she had anticipated. A straight-faced woman, who didn't seem too pleased with her job, had informed her and the two other grown, professional-looking men- probably doctors or professors with years of experience- that they were to be put to the test in an actual lab to see their brilliance in action. Reyna's stomach plummeted at this. Put to the test?!

The instructions were simple. They were each given a blood sample to work with and were given free liberty to do whatever. Reyna immediately drew a blank, wishing she had more instructions. She put the white lab coat they provided her over her blouse and pencil skirt she had specifically bought to look qualified for the job, and pulled her shoulder-length black hair out of her face. She then gloved up and put on a face shield to protect herself from blood-borne pathogens sometimes present in blood. She looked around and saw the other men weren't as suited up as she was. She almost 'tsk'ed out loud- that was not proper lab protocol.

Her brown eyes glanced at the supplies she was given, surprised by the fact that they covered all the bases; sodium chloride buffered saline, microscope slides, various antisera.

Using a sterile pipet, she extracted a drop of blood onto a microscope slide and placed a coverslip over it before looking at it under the microscope.

Reyna was completely caught off guard by what she saw. She might not have been a scientist for very long but she had seen her fair share of different blood related diseases- this was in a league of its own. The red blood cells, usually round and small, were much larger than they should have been and were completely green. Green?! Was this some kind of joke?

"I've never seen anything like this," she heard one of the men mumble. He was an older man, a professor of biology, with a balding head and a large gut. "Perhaps it's an immune response to some kind of disease."

The other man looked doubtful. He was actually a doctor in his fifties with graying black hair and dark stubble on his chin.

"Haven't you heard about those mutants that are showing up everywhere?" he asked the professor. "The X-men, they call themselves. This seems like something of the sort. A genetic mutation, perhaps?"

Reyna was sitting in silence, shaking her head as if to disagree with what they were saying. She had been forming her own conclusion. The two men had ignored her at all costs but for some reason, she felt that she should voice her opinion on the matter.

"I can't help but feel like it's a mixture of both," she said. She had taken off her face shield and her eyes were still focused on the oculars of the microscope. She didn't look to see if the others were listening to her or not. "I feel like maybe a mutation might have occurred and there is an immune response because of it. Antibodies were formed to protect the body from the mutation but now they are having a reaction with the antigens present on the cells."

Reyna looked up now and saw the men were giving her incredulous looks. It was suddenly warm in the lab again.

She continued on. "I would do an elution procedure on the cells to determine what antibodies are causing the red cells to act this way, which could probably then lead to what caused this in the first place."

The doctor, Dr. Sullivan, stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Elution process? I'm not familiar with that."

Reyna gave a shy smile. "I used to work in the blood bank so I'm used to blood and all the terminology. Elution is the process of taking the attacking antibodies off the cells to determine what they are. You need to wash the cells with saline and acid- it's a long process but I think it's a good first step."

The professor, Mr. McConnell, did not look impressed. "I was leaning more towards an antibody titer."

The brunette disagreed again. "I'm not so sure about that. An antibody titer won't tell you what it is. Just that it's present." At their raised eyebrows, she tried to shrug nonchalantly. "I worked in the chemistry lab before blood bank."

The two men looked shocked. "You can't be more than eighteen."

Reyna gave them a deadpanned look. "I'm twenty-four."

It was this moment that the straight-faced woman entered the lab, holding a clipboard with a stagnant frown on her face. Reyna glanced at her Stark Industries nametag. Mary Willis, it read.

"Reyna Morales," she snipped, "would you please come with me?"

Reyna's body felt warm again. Had she really messed up? What made her think she could even try to get a job in research at Stark Industries? They were kicking her out for sure. She didn't make the cut.

She stood up and took off her lab coat before straightening her skirt and following behind Mary Willis.

The walk was deafeningly quiet, except for the sound of her heels clicking against the floor. Dead girl walking.

After a couple of minutes- it felt more like a couple of hours- Mary Willis led her to what looked like another la, filled with different screens and equipment Reyna had never seen before. There were two men in the lab that looked up when she entered. One was a stocky guy with dark, yet graying hair and glasses over his dark eyes. He studied her for a moment before going back to his work on one of the screens. The other man was undoubtedly Tony Stark. She had seen what he looked like in magazines and he was better looking in person. He watched her come in but didn't take his eyes off of her. It was unnerving. She hadn't decided if it was in a good way or a bad way.

Without another word, Mary Willis backed out of the room leaving Reyna alone with the men. The door clicked closed menacingly behind her.

Reyna never imagined Tony Stark would be staring at her. She guiltily wished it was under sexier circumstances.

"Am I…in trouble?" she asked unsurely. What else should she say?

Tony Stark shrugged. "I don't know. Are you?"

Reyna gave a bashful smile, trying to show that she wasn't as scared as she really was. "No one's telling me anything."

"Your theory on the blood sample was very interesting," he commented. Tony and the other man exchanged looks at this. "Haven't heard that one before. You don't even have any experience. What are you, eighteen?"

Reyna shook her head, surprisingly not as annoyed at him for getting her age wrong. "Twenty-four. I worked at a hospital for my clinical internship so I do have a bit of experience working with patient specimen. I just graduated after all."

Tony nodded. He then touched the screen that was nearest him and pulled up what looked like a profile all about Reyna. Her driver's license picture pulled up and she tried not to visible cringe. That wasn't exactly her best picture.

"Bachelor's degree in clinical lab science. Graduated…bottom of your class? You know, most of the people who have applied have years of experience in research. They have Masters or Doctorates. Top of their class. What makes you so special? Besides the fact that you're small, young, and have a pretty face."

Reyna had been expecting his question, but what came after caught her completely off guard. She blinked and tried really hard to recover from that random burst.

"Tony…" the other man groaned. Stark paid him no mind.

"Well, I'm not sure about the last bit, but since I'm young, I'm well versed in the new techniques and procedures in the lab today. I've come to see that those with years of experience in the lab stick to the old ways and aren't fond of new changes. As for…being at the bottom of my class…I'm not going to pretend that I'm some sort of genius, because I'm not. But I'm good at what I do and I love being in the lab." She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that was enough.

"Did you hear about the alien invasion a couple years ago?" he inquired suddenly. "Where the Avengers valiantly fought and saved the day?"

Of course Rayne knew of that incident. She may not have been living in New York City at the time but it was all over the news. She nodded.

"Remember that pretty bad-ass green rage monster?" he continued. The man next to him unexpectedly squirmed in his seat, watching Reyna carefully as if to gauge her reaction.

"The Hulk, right? My brother couldn't get over how awesome he was. What about him?"

Instead of answering directly, he pointed an index finger at the man next to him. It took a moment for it to click, but when it did, she was absolutely shocked. This ordinary looking man was really the incredible Hulk?! She raised her eyebrows as if asking for confirmation. When the man gave a curt nod, she gave a nervous laugh.

"Whoa…not what I was expecting." She turned back to Tony Stark. "What does that have to do with anything, though?"

Tony's index finger now pointed right at Reyna's face. "We want you to find a cure for our dear friend, Dr. Banner here. You've been the most interesting and prettiest applicant so far. What'd do you say?"

Reyna's eyes widened. "A…cure…? That sounds really ambitious. Didn't you say I was bottom of my class?" She added what she hoped sounded like a careless laugh at the end of her sentence to try to calm her nerves.

Dr. Banner frowned and turned towards his friend. "We shouldn't even have tried. There's no curing the other guy. Besides, she shouldn't be in this environment. She's young and being around me isn't safe for her."

Reyna inwardly groaned at the guilt trip. He probably hadn't meant to do it but she was feeling pressured into it now. This man's life depended on her finding a cure for him so now she felt she had to.

"I'm not afraid of you," she started. "If that's what you were thinking. I'm just not sure I'm qualified to legitimately come up with a cure. I barely passed microbiology in school and now you want me to remedy some kind of mutation?"

"You'll be working with Brucie here," Tony explained. "And for the record, showing a lack of confidence isn't the best way to win over your interviewers. Just remember that next time you're trying to find another job. We'll see you tomorrow bright and early, okay babe?"

* * *

Reyna tried to recall the beginning of the day as she picked up a large pepperoni pizza on her way home. So much happened during that interview that it was just a complete blur. She barely even processed that she got the job and would be working closely alongside Tony Stark's- THE IRON MAN- good friend, the incredible Hulk! What a strange turn of events!

As she neared the entrance to her apartment, she saw a figure heading towards the same place she was. She recognized his tall, lanky figure immediately; her next door neighbor, Peter Parker. He was a few years younger than her and attended college nearby. He was slightly awkward in a goofy, yet charming way and mostly kept to himself since the death of his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. It was very tragic but Reyna secretly hoped he would get over it in time. It had been a couple years since her passing… He was young. He should be living his life.

"Hey neighbor," Reyna greeted cheerfully.

He was very distracted and didn't notice her until he almost ran into her. "Oh, hey…" He had earphones in his ear which is why he didn't hear her.

He made to walk past her when she stopped him instinctively. "Whoa, what happened to your face? You okay?" His left eye was bruised and starting to swell and his lip had a giant cut on it.

Peter looked very distracted, refusing to look her in the eye and looking like he just wanted to go home and crawl in bed. "I fell off my bike. No big deal."

Reyna raised an eyebrow at his statement. He didn't even own a bike but he obviously didn't want to tell her so she let it go.

"Right, well, if you're hungry I've got this big ol' pizza I probably won't finish. You're welcome to come over and have a slice or two."

He glanced at her now before going off ahead not even holding the door open for her. "Maybe some other time." Peter marched on like he was on a mission to get to bed and left Reyna in the dust.

"Dinner for one then," she mumbled to herself before making her way to her small, cheap apartment to eat her celebratory pizza on getting the job.

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A/N: My first Avengers story! Oh my goodness, I'm excited! I hope you guys like this! I'm really busy with summer school though so I'm not sure how frequently I can update but I'll try to make it reasonable. Also I hope the science talk made some sense. I was sitting in class and while learning Blood Bank I was seriously trying to apply it to Bruce's blood. No idea why, and bam! This story was born!

Please review! It'll be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: I forgot to mention, this takes place after Iron Man 3!**

**Thanks for the reviews, the follows, and the favorites! I hope you like this next chapter!**

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**Chapter Two**

Dr. Banner was already working on something when Reyna walked into the lab the following morning. He was wearing wire-framed glasses as he squinted at the touch screen computer in front of him, looking the part as brilliant scientist.

"Good morning," Reyna greeted cheerfully. Since they were to work closely with each other, she figured they might as well start on the right foot.

He glanced up at her. "Morning," he muttered before going back to the screen.

'A man of many words,' she thought sarcastically.

She walked over to the table and sat next to him, albeit awkwardly. "What should I do?"

Dr. Banner took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes before facing her. Reyna had thought that she was getting on his nerves with the way he was acting, but when she looked in his eyes, she saw a kind of spark. Was that amusement? Or excitement? He even cracked a half-smile.

"I've been up all night studying up on immunohematology," he told her. "I never even considered it until you mentioned it yesterday. It seems that the gamma radiation I was exposed to mutated the antigens on my red cells therefore causing the antibodies in my serum to react. You were absolutely right."

Reyna smiled bashfully. "I was just applying what I learned in class. Granted, this situation is a tad different than what we learned but I didn't see why the theory wouldn't apply here."

"Yes, well, I do want to try that elution process you explained. That sounds like a good first step. Everything you need should be at that table over there and if not, just let me know."

Reyna headed over to the table he had been talking about and got straight to work. She inwardly groaned because elution was very boring and time consuming- but couldn't complain too much since she needed this job.

After an hour or working in silence, Reyna was ready to burst. She didn't want to admit that she was one of those peoples that needed to talk during silences, but she really was. Not that she found Dr. Banner to be particularly interesting- maybe the Hulk was- but he was a person and she really wanted to start a conversation.

She looked up from her work as the tubes with blood were incubating and decided to check him out. His dark eyes never left the screen, as he studied something. His graying hair was in waves, looking slightly unkempt, but not in a bad way. He was a good-looking guy, she admitted. He was probably forty. If she were older she would totally go for him.

"You two are so boring to watch," Tony Stark said, pretty much announcing his presence as he entered the lab. He was dressed casually in jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt. "I was hoping for some forbidden 'professor/student' action. These tables are pretty sturdy if you want to try."

Dr. Banner covered his face with his hand in embarrassment. "Tony…"

Reyna just laughed. Finally, someone with a sense of humor. "Do you make inappropriate comments like this all the time?" she asked, truly curious.

Stark nodded. "Pretty much. Life's too short to be shy and reserved."

Reyna agreed. "Am I allowed to make inappropriate comments?"

Her boss pointed a finger at her. "Only if it's clever. So, you find the cure yet?"

Reyna scanned the tubes that were in front of her incubating. Should she be farther along? Had she already messed up on the first day? "I haven't even eluted off the antibodies yet…I'm sorry. I'll work faster."

"Don't listen to him," Dr. Banner told her. "You're doing fine."

Reyna smiled. "Okay good. I was starting to get nervous there." She placed her hand over her heart, hoping to slow it down. "I hope you don't mind me asking but why are you trying to get rid of the Hulk? I thought he was a superhero. And that the Avengers were some kind of team."

"Crime fighting's not a full time job," Tony answered. "Nor do we enjoy it when we're trying to love normal lives. I may not have the suit anymore but I will always be Iron Man. Dr. Banner over here doesn't want to be a big green rage monster for the rest of his life but that won't stop him from helping people when he can."

Reyna nodded, processing this information. "So, you guys just want to be normal. I can understand that. But most ordinary people are boring…"

"Have you met me?" Tony interrupted. "Nothing about me is boring!"

"I wouldn't mind a bit of boring," Dr. Banner commented quietly.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful. Reyna was able to elute off the antibodies and preserved them separately in serum to prepare for testing in the morning.

She had hoped that Dr. Banner would have opened up a bit more while they were working in silence yet again but unfortunately he was closed up like a clam. She definitely liked Tony Stark. He was funny and very entertaining. There was never a dull moment with that guy. But she wished she could know more about the Hulk's alter ego. He was a mystery.

"Hey, did you know Iron Man isn't Iron Man anymore?" Reyna asked her brother over the phone as she made her way home. It was starting to get dark so she tried to hustle along.

'Yeah,' she heard her brother's voice reply. 'He announced it at a press conference.'

Reyna blinked. "I'm always behind on this kinda stuff…"

'Hey listen, I gotta go so I'll talk to you later, okay?'

Before Reyna could even reply, she heard the familiar click signaling that he hung up. She had hoped that he wouldn't hang up so quickly since she still had a bit left to walk home. She had no one left to call so she hastened her pace.

With only a couple of blocks left, she thought she was home free until she started hearing heavy footsteps following behind her.

'Keep walking,' she told herself. 'Just keep walking.'

The person was getting closer. Against her better judgment, she turned around to see who was following her and wished she hadn't. An older man with shoulder-length blonde hair and intimidating leather clothes was trailing her.

She gasped involuntarily and did the only thing she could think of. She took off running and suddenly regretted wearing heels to work that day.

It didn't take long for the man to catch up to her. He easily grabbed her from around the waist and slammed her against the nearest wall in an alleyway so no one would see them.

Reyna whimpered in fear, not knowing what to do. He grinned creepily at her and she opened her mouth to scream, "Somebody help me!" Her voice cracked at her attempt to raise her voice.

"Shut up!" he snapped. Without warning, he raised his hand and slapped her across the face. The loud smack echoed throughout the alleyway. The stinging feeling that swiftly enveloped her cheek was overwhelming and tears clouded her vision.

"Don't try screaming again," he warned, his alcoholic breath suffocating her. "You won't like what happens to you."

Making sure to keep her mouth shut, she tried to wriggle out of his grip. Catching on, he shoved his forearm over her neck to keep her in place, choking her as he began to grope her breast roughly. The tears were free-flowing down her cheeks now as she tried to get his arm off of her. "Please…stop…" she whispered, unable to raise her voice.

"Just going to have some fun," he slurred. "You'll enjoy it." His free arm left her chest and began making its way up her skirt.

Reyna started to squirm more strongly, causing his choking arm to press further into her neck. She was gasping desperately for air when the man was abruptly pulled off of her and thrown across the alley. The lack of support was too much for her and she collapsed on the ground. She began coughing violently and missed the majority of what was going on in front of her.

"Last time I checked screaming for help doesn't mean someone's having a good time," she heard a different voice say. "Plus, she's not your type."

"Screw you!" she heard her assailant scream. She watched as he clenched a fist and tried to drill her rescuer in the face. He ducked easily and shot what looked like a rope at him. Before she could even process what was going on, the blonde man was hanging above the street, completely wrapped up and gagged.

"These guys just get easier to take down," her rescuer mumbled. A pair of red and blue boots entered her line of vision. She raised her eyes and saw that he was wearing a mask and was completely recognizable. Spiderman.

"You okay?" he asked.

Reyna meant to respond but she couldn't find her voice. She began blubbering like a baby instead.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he comforted. He kneeled down next to her and patted her back in a soothing manner. "He's not going to hurt you anymore."

Reyna nodded and wiped her eyes furiously. Could she be any more embarrassing?

She looked up to actually face him. She saw her own rumpled reflection when she stared into those slightly creepy spider eyes. She was a pathetic mess.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice sounding extremely comforting to her.

She sniffled. "Reyna…"

"Okay Reyna, can you stand?" he inquired nicely.

She tried to stand on her feet but she collapsed back on the ground, he shaky legs unable to hold up her weight.

"I'll take that as a no." He stood up and hoisted her to her feet, his arm around her, supporting her. "Where do you live?"

She raised her arm to point. "Two blocks away."

"Hold on tight," he told her. He lifted his free arm and shot a web from his wrist. They were off the ground easily and were swinging in the air. The feeling was upsetting her stomach and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep her life away.

When they made it to the small apartment complex, Spiderman proceeded to head inside, still practically carrying Reyna alongside him. "Which one?"

"Twenty-five."

Spiderman was on top of it; leading the way like he knew the place and then opening the door when she handed him the keys. He led her to the small worn out couch in the middle of the room and looked around.

Reyna was suddenly embarrassed, wishing she'd cleaned up a bit before she left for the work this morning. There were dishes in the sink, a rumpled pink blanket on the couch next to her, and scattered shoes on the ground. If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, she would have laughed at the fact that Spiderman was standing in her ordinary, small living room.

"You should be okay now," he said. "Maybe put some ice on that eye."

Reyna nodded. "Thank you, Spiderman."

Her masked hero shrugged. "It's my job." He backed out of her apartment using the front door leaving Reyna to her thoughts. She heard the door next to her home open, Peter Parker's apartment, and wondered if the ruckus had woken him up.

She lay down on the couch, unable to get back up and closed her eyes. Sleep took over.

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A/N: So, I decided to include Spiderman. I just really liked Andrew Garfield's performance in that movie so I thought it'd be fun to have him in this. Please review!


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

The sun shining brightly through the small window landed on Reyna's tired eyes, momentarily blinding her. She lay on her back, unmoving, wiling her eyes to close again. Her body was so sore. She moved her head ever so slightly to glance at the wall clock across from her.

It read 11:42 am. It was Wednesday. She should have been at work at 8 in the morning.

"Shit!" she yelled. She jumped up from the couch and quickly wished she hadn't. Her head spun and she staggered for a few moments before rushing to the bathroom to fix herself up for the day.

She almost cried when she saw her reflection. She looked absolutely horrible. Her right eye was swollen and dark blue with dried blood caked underneath. Her other eye was slightly puffy from crying last night. Her throat was bruised as well, looking like she had been choked, which she had.

She frantically began laying on the make-up hoping to cover as much as she could. Unfortunately, she wasn't a make-up wizard. She was able to tone down the color a bit but there was still some obvious bruising.

She opted for trousers and flats today. She didn't want to take any chances. She found a casual scarf in her closet and placed it around her neck, hoping to cover that mess as well.

With one final glance in the mirror, she pushed aside the desire to crawl back into bed and headed out the door.

She barely made it out the door when she heard someone call her name. It was Peter who was on his way out as well.

"Don't you leave earlier for work?" he asked.

"Slept in," was Reyna's curt response. She was trying to duck her head enough where he wouldn't see her black eye. "It's been a rough morning. You heading to class?"

"Yeah. You okay?"

Reyna nodded. "Just frazzled this morning."

"You should probably put some ice on that eye of yours," he commanded off-handedly.

Reyna looked at him in surprise, giving him a clear view of her face. He reached over and held her chin, inspecting her eye.

"It's horrible, isn't it?" she asked. Her eyes were starting to tear up as she relived the moments from the previous night. She gave a humorless laugh. "I probably looked worse last night. Spiderman saved me from this creep. He must have thought I was a mess…"

Peter shook his head, letting her face go. They continued walking. "Doubt it. He's a cool guy though, isn't he?"

The brunette agreed. "He's amazing. I was always a bit more partial to Iron Man but after what happened last night, Spiderman's definitely my favorite."

Peter looked at her incredulously. "Iron Man?! He's such a show off! Why would you like him?"

Reyna smiled a bit, trying not to show that that small action caused her pain. "He was my old man crush. Not that he's old, just older than me. Plus, he's my boss now."

"Old man crush? You're weird. I take it you work at Stark Industries then?"

"In the research department," she replied.

"You too good for OsCorp?" he asked jokingly.

"Hey, they weren't hiring!" she defended.

"Right, right. I'm heading this way so I'll see you later." And he was off.

Reyna watched him go for a moment. That was odd. Peter never stopped to actually have a conversation with her before, so why not start? Even though it seemed out of character, the little character that she knew of him, she actually liked conversing with him. He was kind of goofy but funny and easy to talk to. She hoped there would be more conversations to come.

A feeling of dread cloaked Reyna's entire form as she made her up into Stark Tower. She had never been late for work before and she didn't even want to think about the consequences. She desperately hoped they wouldn't fire her for being incompetent.

When she entered the lab, both Stark and Banner were there discussing something. She ducked her face when they looked at her and she rushed over to the biohazard refrigerator they had. How long could she go without showing her face? She took the tube rack holding her specimen and she made sure she was looking to the side as she headed to her work station. She looked guilty for sure.

"Did you party hard last night?" Tony asked. His voice was calm and easy but Reyna could tell he was upset that she was late.

"No, of course not," she replied meekly. "Something happened last night. It's been a rough morning."

"Hate to break it to you babe, but you're going to have to do better than that," Tony scolded.

"I've been trying to work on these antibodies for hours but I couldn't do it without you," Banner started in. "Now I've messed up these samples and we need to start over." Oh great, she was in so much trouble.

Reyna began tearing up again. Why was she so weak? "I'm sorry," she squeaked out. She faced them fully now and when they saw her bruising, she saw their eyes widen and exchange looks of concern between themselves.

Dr. Banner walked forward and began inspecting her face. He looked genuinely concerned and she began crying, mostly out of embarrassment. "Reyna, what happened?"

She shut her eyes tightly as he began touching her face. "Tony, can you get my some ice?"

Reyna whimpered. "I should have put ice on it last night. I was just so exhausted from the stress that I passed out."

"I need you to tell me what happened," he repeated. Tony returned with an ice pack that Banner put on her face immediately.

Reyna grimaced at the sudden cold and struggled to get a grip on herself. "I was walking home last night after leaving the lab and I was attacked by some guy. He was- he was trying to…sexually assault me…I was so scared. He got mad when I-I resisted."

Dr. Banner's eyes never left her face. It almost calmed Reyna, knowing that he was so concerned and nice. It was something she never expected since he was always so quiet and kept to himself. "Did you want to go home?" he asked. "We'd understand if you took the next couple of days off."

"No," she shook her head. "Doing my work will actually get my mind off of this. Please, I wanna stay."

"Okay," Dr. Banner said. He took the ice pack off of her face and placed it in her hand. He then took a step back away from her and Reyna released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "We'll need new samples to work with. I'll get the blood, and if you don't mind eluting the antibodies again, I'll help you out this time."

Tony left soon after, commenting on how she was gutsy and that he was sorry he wasn't there to help her out. Reyna appreciated it. All the concern helped brighten her mood a bit.

She began looking through the opened tubes, seeing if she could salvage anything when she saw Dr. Banner preparing to stab himself with a needle from the corner of her eye. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things and when he was almost at his arm, Reyna shouted, "No!"

Dr. Banner stopped with a start. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Are you going to draw your own blood?" she questioned incredulously.

He looked at her like she was crazy. "I do it all the time."

"Dr. Banner, you're going to hemolyze your blood if you do that. Destroying the red cells that way will prevent me from doing any accurate tests. Let me." She walked over to him and put on some new gloves.

"You know how to draw blood?"

"I'm a certified phlebotomist," she told him. "I drew blood all the time at the hospital I interned at. It's not my favorite thing to do but I can do it."

"I'm impressed," he said. He looked like he meant it too, flashing her a big smile. She was surprised at the fluttery feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach. Where did that come from?

She had to play it cool. "Thanks." She returned the smile, hoping she didn't look totally lame. She located his vein and inserted the needle easily, filling up at least five tubes of blood to experiment on.

"Now I feel better," she commented. "I almost had a heart attack when I saw you were doing it on your own. Seriously, if you need more blood drawn, just let me know."

He nodded. "I'll remember that for next time."

At first, Reyna was bummed that she would have to do the grueling process of eluting again but she found that it really wasn't so bad to do, once Dr. Banner joined in the process with her. She explained every step and what was happening to his cells as she did so. He seemed very intrigued, asking questions now and then.

She figured since he was being so open at the moment, she would ask some questions of her own. "You mentioned before that you know a lot about gamma radiation. Is that how you become the Hulk?"

He hesitated before answering her. "Yeah, something like that. Tomorrow we can work with the antisera, right?"

She could take the hint. "No talking about the Hulk, duly noted. And yes, tomorrow's work will be a lot easier."

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude," he apologized. "I guess my alter ego is just a sore subject."

Reyna laughed him off. "I'm not so fragile, you know." Then she remembered how her face was badly bruised and she was in fact a fragile human being. "Eh…you know what I mean."

"Let me walk you home tonight," he said unexpectedly.

Reyna looked at him quickly, suddenly feeling her face get warm. She held her hands in front of her putting space between them. "Oh, no, you really don't have to do that. I'm sure you have better things to do. Maybe get home to your wife or something."

Dr. Banner chuckled. "I'm not married. And I want to walk you home. I want to make sure you get back safe."

The brunette nodded. "If you insist," she replied meekly.

She was secretly pleased on many accounts. First off, he wasn't married which meant she could be as flirty and cute as she wanted without feeling guilty- she didn't mean to but found that whenever she was around good-looking men she tended to have a flirty tone in her voice. Second off, the fact that a good-looking guy wanted to walk her home to make sure she was safe was a very flattering thought. She'd take it.

* * *

"Of course, now that you're here there isn't another person in sight," Reyna commented sarcastically. The walk back to her place wasn't very far but since she wasn't exactly rich, it wasn't in the safest area. Many nights she could see thugs walking around but this night, the streets were empty.

Dr. Banner gave a sincere laugh. She was starting to like his laugh. "I just radiate intimidation."

She was very surprised at how not awkward the walk with this man was. She didn't know how the walk was going to go exactly since sometimes he felt like talking and other times he didn't but they shared amiable conversation.

He wasn't very tall, just a head taller than her. But surprisingly, that didn't bother her even though she was always a fan of taller men. Being out of the lab seemed to change his persona completely. In the lab he seemed like an antisocial scientist who was always absorbed in his work and nothing else. Out here, walking with her, he was just a regular guy.

"Maybe if they knew about your split personality," she joked. "Thank you for walking me. Seriously, I appreciate it."

"It was no problem," he remarked.

They made it to the front door and she faced him fully now. He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. "Did you want me to call you a cab or something? It's dark now and I wouldn't want you walking on your own." Great, she sounded like a mom.

"I'll be fine. See you tomorrow, Reyna."

"Goodnight, Dr. Banner," she called out to him.

He looked over his shoulder and with a spark of delight in his eyes he said, "Call me Bruce."

* * *

A/N: Any good? Please review!


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

"Are you listening to me?"

Reyna raised her eyes from her cell phone to meet the green ones encased in wire-framed glasses sitting across from her. She was having dinner with her closest friend, Natalie, who was visiting her for the week.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't," was Reyna's blunt reply. "Give me two seconds."

Reyna went back to her cell phone screen and scanned the words that were flashing back at her. 'When a gamma ray passes through matter, the probability for absorption is proportional to the thickness of the layer, the density of the material, and the absorption cross section of the material. The total absorption shows an exponential decrease of intensity with distance from the incident surface: I(x)= x where x is the distance from the incident surface, μ = nσ is the absorption coefficient, measured in cm−1, n the number of atoms per cm3 of the material (atomic density), σ the absorption cross section in cm2 and x the distance from the incident surface of the gamma rays in cm.'

Reyna groaned. "What does that even mean?" She pressed the home button on her iPhone and shut it off in frustration before placing it on the table, her pink cover facing upwards. She gazed at her friend again, this time apologetically. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"What was that?" Natalie asked, pointing at her phone.

"I was trying to read about gamma radiation. Long story," she added, noticing her friend's confused face. "It's really complicated though. I'm just not getting it."

It had been a couple of weeks since Reyna started working at Stark Tower alongside Bruce- Dr. Banner. She understood that when he was concerned for her after she was attacked, that was just his doctor instincts kicking in. Reyna learned soon after that he used to be an uncertified doctor in Calcutta before he joined the Avengers. Offering to walk her home was a gallant act to make sure she was safe. She understood all that. She wasn't expecting anything from him, she just appreciated the thought. The following days, however, he started becoming more distant like he had when they first met. He told her to call him Bruce but every time she did so, he visibly cringed, so she reverted back to calling him Dr. Banner. What was going on?

"Of all things, gamma radiation?" Natalie asked.

"You remember how I had an old man crush on Tony Stark?" Reyna asked, feeling embarrassed but trying not to laugh at the same time.

"Yeah… He's your boss now, so has that crush intensified?"

Reyna pursed her lips. "Not exactly. More like I have a crush on his friend that I work with. Is it weird that he's like…forty-four?"

Natalie looked unsure. "Kind of…"

Reyna groaned again. "It doesn't matter anyway. He was nice to me because we work together but he probably thinks of me more as an annoyance. That's so depressing…" She placed her head on the table dramatically and took a deep breath. "Forever alone…"

"I'm sorry," Natalie said weakly.

Reyna ran her fingers through her dark hair. "It's fine…so what do you wanna do tonight? Movie night?"

Before her friend could answer, her phone started vibrating on the table and a twinkly tune resonated from the speakers. Reyna picked it up and looked at the caller I.D. "Hm…" She didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" she asked.

'What are you doing tonight?' a male voiced asked.

Reyna furrowed her eyebrows. "Who is this?"

'Do you really need to ask? Ok, I'll play along. It's your rich, intelligent, amazingly handsome boss. What are you doing tonight?'

She glanced at her friend watching her curiously. 'Tony Stark,' Reyna mouthed. Natalie's eyes widened and she beamed. "That's so cool!"

"I'm entertaining tonight," Reyna replied. She blinked, realizing how that could be misconstrued. She went to correct her statement when Tony spoke quickly.

'Great, well, bring your boyfriend along. We're going to a party; lots of rich people, drinking, mingling, the works.'

"My guest is a girl," Reyna amended.

'Fine, bring your girlfriend. I didn't know you rolled that way. That's interesting, in a hot way.'

Reyna rolled her eyes. "She's my best friend visiting me."

'Even better!' Tony exclaimed. 'Meet at the tower at nine and we'll head over together.' Click.

Reyna chuckled. "Apparently we have to go to this party. Tony Stark's orders."

Natalie giggled. "That sounds so awesome! I actually get to meet Tony Stark!"

"Is it sad that I was actually excited for our movie night? I wanted to watch sexy Chris Evans in action!"

The two women left the restaurant after finishing their meals and headed towards different boutiques where they could find dresses for the event tonight. Natalie hadn't prepared for a fancy occasion so she didn't have a dress to wear and Reyna just wanted a new outfit for the occasion.

Natalie settled on a red, sweetheart top evening dress with a rouched bodice that reached mid-thigh. It was very flattering on her and went with her dirty blonde hair and green eyes. She left it down, pulling her bangs up out of her face.

Reyna bought a cream colored dress that was a sweet-heart top as well with a cinched waist and a flowy skirt that reached her mid-thigh as well. She curled her dark hair and pinned it in a side ponytail.

They took a cab to Stark tower and were giddy the entire way. What did they do at these kinds of parties? Would be there many attractive men? Were they dressed enough?

"I can't believe we're actually at Stark Tower right now! This is so exciting!" Natalie squealed. "I'm so glad I decided to visit you this week!"

Reyna laughed. "Your enthusiasm is adorable. We look totally amazing by the way."

"Yes we do!"

Tony was waiting for them when they entered the main area and was accompanied by a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and a tall body to die for, the Reyna immediately recognized as Pepper Potts from the news. She was Tony's girlfriend. Either they were completely in love or she was crazy.

"Reyna!" Tony greeted. He looked very dashing in a well-tailored suit and tie. His hair was slicked back. "You and your girlfriend look very lovely tonight."

"Best friend," Reyna corrected.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, that's what I said. Have you met Pepper yet? She's been dying to meet you."

"Hi, Reyna," Pepper came up and shook Reyna's hand. "It's very nice to meet you."

Reyna smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. And this is my best friend Natalie Reed, visiting me this week."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too," Natalie said politely. "And you too, Mr. Stark!"

Reyna laughed again. She could practically see the stars in her friend's eyes.

Tony clapped his hands together. "Alright, so we just need to wait on Bruce and then we're good to go!"

Reyna's ears perked at this piece of information. "Dr. Banner's coming? Doesn't really seem like his scene."

Pepper sighed at this. "Tony's forcing him. Said it will be good for him to get out and mingle with other people."

"Well he should," Tony agreed.

Pepper frowned. "I think you're being insensitive about the situation."

Tony held his hands out in exasperation. "How am I being insensitive right now? I'm looking out for my friend. He's used to being alone because of his fear of hurting people but we're working on a cure. Right Reyna? We need to get him out of his shell so that when he does stop being the Hulk, he will have people to interact with. I think I'm being the good guy right now." Like a child he crossed his arms and turned to look at the opposite side of the room like he was pouting.

Now Reyna knew the reason behind them hiring her. Tony was trying to be a good friend to Dr. Banner and was trying to bring his life back on track, where he could surround himself with people. His intentions were very noble, but maybe he wasn't going about it the right way.

"I don't know about this…" Dr. Banner said, entering the room. He was dressed in a brown suit and a purple long sleeve shirt underneath. He looked nice, not as dressed up as Tony, but still nice.

When he saw the room full of people, he hesitated in his entrance and started ruffling his hair in slight embarrassment. He walked over to Tony but didn't make eye contact with anyone.

"Good, let's go." Tony said. He ushered everyone outside into a fancy limo and they were on their way to this party. Natalie tried asking what the party was for but Tony was very limited in his information. Something about an expo presentation for some other company. He just wanted to show his face and to bring Bruce out into the real world.

When they were arrived, both Natalie and Reyna were star struck. There were some well-known celebrities present as well as other very good-looking rich people. This was not a scene any of them were used to. Cameras were snapping and people were chatting like they knew each other. She suddenly wished she didn't look like an eighteen year old, even if she was dressed all fancy.

"At least we look the part," Reyna muttered.

"Let's go get some drinks!" Natalie exclaimed. She grabbed Reyna by the wrist and dragged her over to where there was a waiter with a tray of brightly colored drinks in martini glasses. They each grabbed one and stood around for a moment.

"So what should we do?" Reyna asked. She looked around trying to see where Tony had gone to and saw him chatting it up with some reporters. She probably shouldn't interrupt.

Natalie elbowed Reyna in the ribs. "Those guys are checking us out. Let's head over."

* * *

"It was really crazy. I knew it was a good idea but I had no idea it would make me this successful."

Reyna tried to look interested as this one man- Jack, was it?- went on and on about his rise to success for creating…something, she hadn't really been paying attention. She didn't miss the fact that his eyes kept traveling down to her cleavage however and she was very tempted to cross her arms over her chest. He was a very good-looking man, ruggedly handsome, even in his suit with dark hair and dark eyes.

He reached out and tugged a strand of her hair. "You look absolutely stunning tonight, Rey."

Reyna pursed her lips in annoyance. Only select people could call her 'Rey' and he was most definitely not one of them.

"Thanks…" she muttered, and glanced around the room, looking for some kind of escape. Her eyes landed on Bruce standing in the corner of the room with a drink in his hand, people watching. He looked in time to see her staring at him.

She turned back to Jack and he tugged at her hair again. "Let's get outta here. My place isn't too far off."

The sniggering that left her mouth was unexpected, to both him and her. "Um…I don't think so. Thanks for the offer though." Without another word, she practically fled from the scene, heading towards where Bruce was off on his own.

"Having fun playing Wallflower, over here?" Reyna asked, attempting friendly conversation. She hoped he wouldn't be distant with her like he had been lately. "You should socialize. That's why Tony dragged you here, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" he muttered, taking a sip of his drink. Upon closer inspection, she could see that it was water. "Honestly, I think I would just rather be in the lab."

Reyna nodded. "I think I can agree with you on that one. The guy's here are kinda creepy." She gave him a look over and mustered enough courage to blurt out, "You look handsome tonight." She added a little smile for good measure.

He squinted his eyes at her, almost as if scrutinizing her. "Thanks…you look nice. Too." His eyes left her and scanned the room again. This was not going as well as she would have hoped.

"Did I do something?" she inquired. "We were okay, but now you don't seem to like me very much. I'm not sure if maybe I annoyed you somehow?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not you. I'm just thinking about your safety. You don't want to get close to me."

Reyna placed her hands on her hips to try to look intimidating. She probably failed. "Dr. Banner, I don't really think you should be telling me what's best for me. You don't even know me."

Dr. Banner chuckled and started rubbing his eyes in an irritated manner, like he was getting a headache. "You remind me of Betty."

Reyna smiled. "I hope that's a good thing."

He nodded in agreement and she beamed. She had no idea who this Betty person was but if Bruce liked her enough and she was being compared to her, then she would take it.

The rest of the night was spent by Reyna trying to get him to loosen up and try to enjoy what was left of the party. She even managed to get him to dance with her, albeit reluctantly. She saw Natalie give her a wink and a thumbs up from across the dance floor and she almost laughed in response.

Best. Night. Ever.

* * *

A/N: I guess I just wanted an excuse to have everyone dress up. Hope it was enjoyable nonetheless! Please review!

And I just wanted to thank everyone for the views, follows, favorites and reviews! You guys are awesome and I really appreciate it! Definitely makes me day after being in class all day long.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

The knock on the door caused the idle chatter in the room to stop abruptly. Reyna put the slice of pizza she was halfway done with back in the box and stood up to answer the door. Her eyebrows were furrowed since she didn't normally get guests stopping by to see her.

When she opened the door, a bright flash momentarily blinded her. She blinked a few times to clear the dots from her vision before she saw who visually attacked her.

Peter was standing there with a goofy grin on his face and holding the blinding weapon in his hand, his camera. His hair was ruffled like he had just rolled out of bed, even though it was dinnertime, and was dressed very casually.

"Did you just take my picture?" she asked, in a confused state. "I can't even see right now." She blinked some more.

"Sorry," he said, not so apologetically. "Saw that you were on the front page of the newspaper with Tony Stark so I didn't think you would be opposed to another photo-op."

"Uh…thank you?" Reyna replied unsurely. "If it's ugly you have to destroy it. I won't be happy if I see it on Facebook either."

He laughed but didn't confirm anything. "What are you up to?"

Reyna opened the door a little wider and showed him the inside of her apartment where Natalie was sitting on the floor, watching curiously, mid-bite in her pizza. When she saw the attention was on her she waved back happily.

"We were eating and about to watch a movie. This is my best friend, Natalie. She was staying here this week but is leaving early tomorrow."

"I don't want to go yet!" Natalie whined from the living room.

"I don't want you to go either!" Reyna cried. She turned back to Peter. "Care to join us?"

He rose up his camera in answer. "Can't. I need to take pictures of Spiderman for work. I just wanted to check up on you and see if you were doing better from the last time I saw you. Your face looks better."

"Wait, you're the one that takes the really awesome pictures of Spiderman for the newspaper?" Reyna inquired. "That's pretty badass."

Peter nodded. "Why thank you. So, I'll catch you later, okay?"

"See ya!" She closed the door and was barraged by questions from her excited friend.

"Who was that? He was really cute! Why didn't you mention him before?"

Reyna shrugged. "I forgot! We don't usually talk so I didn't think he was worth mentioning. His name's Peter Parker and he lives next door. He's cool, I guess. From what I know, anyway. But yeah, he is pretty good-looking- in that nerdy kinda way."

"Well, if anything else happens with him, you keep me posted," Natalie commanded. "He seemed interested. Stopping by just to check in on you? A random neighbor probably wouldn't do that."

Reyna pursed her lips. "I don't know why he would be interested. He doesn't even know me. Besides, I've got my crush on Bruce. I'm good."

Natalie didn't look convinced but she forced her eyes on the small television screen and watched as Scarlett Johansson started making a move on some guy.

* * *

As the weeks went on at work, Reyna was starting to get discouraged. No matter what they did, she couldn't seem to remove the hulking green antibodies off of Bruce's red cells. It would appear to be working for the first couple of hours but then…poof! They would reappear and affect the cells in a worse way. But what would happen if she _could_ get her theory to work? Would Bruce need to go through a blood transfusion to receive the no-green blood cells? She really hadn't thought all of this through.

But despite everything, Bruce was being really nice to her. Ever since they had gone out to that fancy-schmancy party and danced, Reyna had expected Bruce to revert back into his shell because he let his guard down. Surprisingly, he didn't. They would converse during the day and he would even give her those little, shy smiles that made her heart flutter. Because of him, she was always excited to head to work. Needless to say, her crush was intensifying every day and she felt stupid for it. She was a twenty-four year old woman with a schoolgirl crush on a man who was old enough to be her father. Reyna cringed every time she thought about it.

Reyna began putting some of the useless, stained slides she had looked at under the microscope in the biohazard sharps container with a sigh. Another dead end- she was used to them by now. She didn't have the heart to tell Bruce, however, so she tried to start a new topic of conversation.

"I've been trying to learn a bit about gamma radiation, but I am definitely not smart enough for it," she told him with a bit of a laugh.

With a smile, he shook his head. "Don't say that. You know you're a very intelligent person. Gamma rays aren't easy."

"You got that right," she agreed. "I now know what to look into if I want to feel dumb. I read a science journal about it and I think I read it about six times. I still have no idea what it was going on about."

"Come here," Bruce said. "Let me show you something." He opened up a screen from the air- some of Tony's hi-tech gadgets. On it was an outline of a human body. He then began explaining what his experiment entailed before he became the Hulk. He told her that he was supposed to create a means for more super soldiers like Captain America with his research but it went terribly wrong. She tried to follow along. She really did, but during his explanation of what the gamma rays did to his body, he showed her on the outline of the body on the screen by holding her hand and tracing it along the screen. His hand was so much larger than hers and it was nice and warm.

After he was done with his story, his hand was still encircled around hers, like he hadn't seemed to notice that he never let go. She wasn't going to say anything and just enjoyed the feeling. She watched his face as he spoke, admiring every aspect of it. His dark eyes, that actually shone with excitement as he talked showing that he loved his science, were her favorite thing to look at. She couldn't help her eyes from straying from his full lips either. Reyna wondered what it would be like to kiss them.

What was wrong with her? She could hit herself for being so stupid. And weird.

"Did that kind of help your understanding?" Bruce asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts. He was looking at her expectantly and she instantly regretted not listening to him.

Reyna smiled sheepishly at him. "Not really. It's just a bit too advanced for me. I'm sorry."

Bruce chuckled. He then looked down and seemed to notice his hand clasping hers for the first time. He opened his mouth and gawked for a few seconds before withdrawing his hand like hers was on fire. He rubbed it off on his side hastily before apologizing profusely.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to do that."

Reyna didn't know how to respond. She shrugged, trying to make it look nonchalant, before saying, "I'm pretty sure I don't have cooties. It's fine." She offered a smile and then went back to her work station, disappointed that he had reacted that way.

Bruce wasn't up to walking her home this night. She wasn't surprised. He had seemed embarrassed after the hand holding thing so he made up some sort of excuse. Reyna would have been angry except that he had given her his number before she left and told her to call him if she needed anything. She would probably never understand him.

* * *

She walked briskly to her apartment, keeping her eyes peeled in case she needed to swing her purse directed at an assailant's head for protection. She seriously considered investing in some mace.

She almost rounded the corner before her apartment complex when she heard a suspicious sound coming from behind her. She stopped short and felt her heart drop into her stomach. 'Not this again…'

When she could practically feel the figure hovering behind her, she swung with all of her might, hoping to knock whoever was behind her out so she could make a run for it.

"Whoa!" the person said. They grabbed her purse easily, stopping her retaliation. Her eyes widened when she realized it was Spiderman, hanging upside from his web, with her purse in his hand, watching her curiously. "You could have taken me out with that if I wasn't paying attention!"

Reyna managed a nervous smile, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. "That was the plan."

She almost wished she could see his face when he responded. The faceless spider mask was slightly unnerving.

"That's the thanks I get for saving you? I'm hurt."

Reyna rolled her eyes playfully. "No, but really, thank you for last time. And I'm sorry for being so incoherent last time. I'm sure I was a complete mess." She looked away bashfully. "That's so embarrassing."

"I should have gotten there sooner. I'm sorry. So, where's the body guard?"

Reyna blinked and tilted her head in contemplation. Spiderman untangled himself from his web and landed gracefully in front of her, never taking his eyes off of her. When he righted himself, he was much taller than her and was on the gangly side.

"What body guard?" she asked.

Spiderman replied, "The older guy who walks you home every night. He didn't want to walk you home tonight?"

Reyna shook her head. "He was busy- wait, a minute. How do you know about Bruce walking me home? Have you been following me?"

Spiderman rubbed the back of his neck and started looking around, anywhere but at her. "Uh…no, I haven't been-okay, well maybe, maybe I have. I just wanted to make sure you weren't being harassed anymore. You seem to be doing better though."

"Since I'm doing better does that mean you're not going to follow me anymore. I don't know how I feel about that. I'm kind of flattered." She beamed and flipped her dark hair over her shoulder.

She heard him laugh from underneath the mask and her smile just widened. She had never given much thought to Spiderman before he saved her that night but she was definitely starting to like the guy. He was funny.

"Flattered, huh?" He chuckled again. "So, what are you up to?"

"Just got off work so I'm heading home. Figured I'd be boring for the rest of the night. Why? You got any special plans for tonight? Going off to save some more damsels in distress?"

"Nah, I'm done for tonight. Just wondering if- you wanna go somewhere?"

Reyna furrowed her eyebrows. "Do I want to go somewhere?" She looked at her wristwatch to see that it was late. She had stayed in the lab later than she usually did and was surprised by the question. "What- what do you mean? Like, you want to hang out with me? It's late, where would we even go?"

"Show you the views of New York…?" He started to say but ended the sentence as a question, unsure of how to respond to her uncertainty. "By web…?"

Reyna grimaced. "I don't know about that. I'm afraid of heights and last time we were swinging in the air, I didn't feel too good."

"Ouch…turned down."

Reyna's eyes got big. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! It would be awesome to hang out, I just…don't want to go web swinging…Ugh, I'll just go be lame and boring on my own." She turned around and began finishing the rest of her walk home.

She didn't expect Spiderman to walk alongside her the rest of the way.

"You're not lame," he told her. "We'll just figure something out for next time. You better say yes." He wiggled a finger at her, trying to be threatening.

Reyna nodded. "Sounds good."

He shot out a web from his wrist and ascended into the air, swinging into the distance. Reyna watched him leave. That was probably the oddest thing that had ever happened to her. She had to admit she was flattered- she supposed he was still a guy, after all. Did he normally do that to women he had previously saved. She would ponder on that next time she saw him.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

"Do you want to know the most random thing?" Reyna asked. She had her laptop sitting on her lap while she lounged around her living room in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Her hair hung over her shoulder in loose braid and she was sipping her coffee as she Skyped with Natalie. Ever since her friend had returned home to North Carolina, she had been missing her like crazy. "I was walking home and Spiderman was totally following me."

Natalie pushed her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose. "Why was he following you? That's kinda creepy."

"I think he was asking me out. I'm not one hundred percent sure though."

Natalie squealed in excitement. "Are you serious?! What did he say? What did _you _say?"

"Well, we were kind of flirting and he asked if I wanted to go somewhere. He wanted to do that web slinging thing throughout the city but I told him that the thought of it freaked me out."

"Reyna…"

"It does!" Reyna exclaimed. "I really am lame…"

"Have you become a superhero magnet without my knowing?" Natalie asked her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I know, right? I suddenly want to meet Captain America," she joked. "It's kind of exciting, having Spiderman hit on me and all. I wonder what he looks like under the mask."

Natalie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Maybe he's hot."

Reyna sighed. "I wish the Incredible Hulk liked me instead. That's too much to ask for though.

"Hm…well, maybe you should think about giving Spiderman a chance. It'll get your mind off of Dr. Banner."

"I guess…but who knows if I will actually see him again?"

Natalie shrugged. "He seemed to like you. He'll probably find you again."

Reyna nodded in agreement.

The rest of their conversation consisted of Natalie's discussion of how her classes were going since she returned to school for another degree- she ranted about her most pointless class- and what she planned on doing for the next coming weekend. It was a nice conversation but it didn't take her mind off of anything.

She always prided herself in never needing a man in her life. She wouldn't deny, she liked checking out guys and flirting, but her career was always her first priority. Now, however, she found that all she could do was think about the men in her life.

She had no reason to feel for Bruce Banner the way that she did. He was quiet, kept mostly to himself and seemed to have a self-esteem issue. He flip-flopped between how he wanted to act around her. He was friendly one second, but then cold and distant another. He had a way of making her feel awkward and embarrassed, like when he pretty much freaked over holding her hand. Not to mention, he was twenty years older than her. But then she thought about his intelligence and how he thought she was intelligent in her own way. The depths of his dark eyes. She loved the way his smiles made her heart flutter and how his hand felt on the small of her back when they danced. Reyna actually wanted to be with him.

Then there was Spiderman. She didn't even know who he was, but for some reason, it seemed he had taken a liking to her. She wasn't complaining; she was just mostly curious about the situation. From what she saw, he was funny and obviously cared for people- he was a superhero after all. If she were to consider talking to this guy, would he reveal who he really was to her?

The knock on her front door almost gave her a heart attack. She frowned after glancing at the clock to see that it was almost midnight. Who would be paying her a visit at this time of night?

Dozens of serial killer moments flashed through her mind as she got up to answer it. She was prepared to slam and lock the door if it was the guy from _Saw _but was greatly relieved to see that it was just her neighbor. Reyna could breathe again.

"Peter?" she asked. "It's late! What are you doing here? Did you lock yourself out?"

He looked tired and somewhat nervous. He shook his head in response and then began looking anywhere but at her. "I was out taking pictures of Spiderman and I was wondering…" Peter looked at her now and gave her a sweet, bashful smile. "Wondering if you wanted to…maybe, if you're free, we can…"

Reyna chuckled at his attempt. "Yes?"

Peter finally blurted out his thoughts. "Do you want to get coffee tomorrow?"

"Coffee? Oh…sure!" Reyna grinned. "But um…why are you asking me now? I could have been asleep."

Peter shrugged. "I saw the light on. Besides, I wanted to just ask you before I lost my nerve."

"Okay, well, I will see you tomorrow then. For our date?"

The smile on Peter's face was very heartwarming. "Yeah, our date." He headed towards his apartment and Reyna softly closed the front door.

She really didn't expect herself to say yes so quickly so she was caught off guard by her own tongue. Now she had to add Peter Parker into her odd man equation.

He was always just the introverted, next-door neighbor who was getting over the death of the love of his life. Lately, he had been more talkative with her, but him asking her out was the last thing she had been expecting. She was glad to know that he was recovering and was ready to put himself out there but she wasn't too sure about being with someone with that much damage. Would he spend all that time comparing her to his ex?

She really was giving these men too much of her time.

Reyna opted for a simple floral skirt, a white tank top and a turquoise blazer. She left her hair down and wore pink sandals. Should she wait for Peter to come to her door or should she head next door? Would it really matter?

She chose against it and sat on her couch, waiting for the knock on her door. It had been a while since she'd been on a date, so she had to admit, she was slightly excited. The butterflies in her stomach felt uncomfortable however and she was ready to just go. She looked at her wristwatch. 9:00 am on the dot. He had told her that they should go to breakfast and then see where they end up. She was okay with that.

Ten minutes had passed and she was still sitting on the couch. She crossed her arms and legs in a huff before turning on the television. She was very tempted to just put her pajamas back on and wallow in self-pity at being stood up but then realized that it had really only been ten minutes. Maybe he was just running late.

Reyna flipped on the news and was instantly enthralled.

"No information on the mutant attacker but Spiderman is definitely holding his own. The police are asking that everyone in the area evacuate for their safety."

Reyna's jaw dropped as she continued to watch the news. It was a live broadcast and this person- he was so mutated he didn't even look like a person- was destroying everything in his path. He was a giant and his entire body looked like it was made of water. Spiderman was trying to get some punches in but his fists kept going right through him. The web slinger was holding his own though because the aquatic man couldn't land a hit.

"No known motive yet behind these attacks," the reporter continued.

Before the reporter could say anything else regarding the case, the water man turned in the camera's direction.

"Oh crap…" the reporter mumbled.

The water man shot a spray of water at the camera and it all went dark. 'Please Stand By' flashed brightly on the screen.

Reyna couldn't believe it. What could that man possibly want and how would Spiderman be able to defeat him? She hoped he would be alright during the fight. Reyna had heard about many strange happenings going on in the city and where Iron Man or Spiderman would come to the rescue. But being from a small town in North Carolina, she never expected to be so close to something like this. The water man attacking was on the far side of where she was at the moment but it was still a scary thought.

By now, Peter was forty-five minutes late. She got up from the couch, Spiderman's fight forgotten now, and marched over to Peter's apartment. She knocked on the door and mustered up the best scowl she could. After a few seconds without a response she knocked again, this time a little louder. Still nothing.

"Fine…" she grumbled. She went back to her place and grabbed her purse before leaving her apartment. She had nothing else planned for her day off so she decided to head to Stark Tower after getting a coffee. She had been working on something that she hadn't told Bruce about as to not jinx her luck. It was the same principle of eluting off the antibodies but with something a little different. It had been successful so far at keeping the antibodies away for a couple of days now and it was the best experiment with the cells. If she saw that the antibodies were still off today, she would tell Bruce that she might have found a way to keep the Hulk at bay.

When she entered, Bruce was working like he usually did; his wire-framed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. His wavy hair was slightly messy but of course Reyna found it endearing. She muttered a quick hello- if she looked at him for too long she would melt- and went straight to the walk in refrigerator to collect the "secret" blood sample. Without even bothering to put on her lab coat, she put on gloves and went straight to work. She put a drop on the blood on a microscope slide and began adjusting the objectives on the microscope to see the cells.

"What are you doing here on your day off?" Bruce asked curiously.

"Don't want me here, Dr. Banner?" was Reyna's response.

"That's not what I said," he told her. "You look nice today."

"Thanks…" she trailed off. The fact that he had complimented her didn't fully settle in because she was distracted by what was going on under the microscope. The little red blood cells were a pinkish red, just like they should be. Just like they had been for seven days straight.

Reyna didn't mean to but she screamed. It wasn't a scared scream, just more of an excited, she-couldn't-believe-she-did-it kind of scream. She stood up and started jumping in place, unable to contain her excitement. She knew she looked dumb but she couldn't help it.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked, rushing to stand next to her. He looked worried, like something had happened to her.

Reyna faced him now; done with her jumping and felt her eyes start to sting. They were watering up because she was so proud of herself for actually accomplishing something. "I did it."

Bruce blinked. "Did what?"

"I came up with a solution to use on your cells to keep the infecting Hulk antibodies off of them."

Bruce gave Reyna a rueful smile. "Just give it time. They'll come back."

Reyna took another look into the microscope to see that the cells were still normal. She looked back up at Bruce and beamed. "Your cells have been normal for seven days. I did it. I _really _did it! I found a way to help you, Bruce." Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck. The first thing she noticed was his scent. Even when they danced, they weren't this close. She couldn't explain it but he smelled like…man, and she loved that smell. The second thing that she noticed was he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. It was hesitant but he still did it. It didn't feel awkward to her at all and she couldn't help but love the fact that their bodies felt right together.

When she pulled away, she looked straight into his dark eyes. She kept her arms around his neck and started playing with the hair at the nape of his neck absentmindedly. "I didn't think I could actually do it but I did."

Bruce smiled genuinely this time. "You really did." He kept his arms around her waist as well. She was surprised by the fact that he hadn't looked away, or pulled away from her yet. Just as Reyna was going to voice this thought, Bruce leaned forward and his lips crashed over hers. Reyna didn't even have time to react as his tongue forced its way passed her lips into her mouth. His lips were as soft as she imagined and she instinctively closed her eyes. She parted her mouth obligingly and was pleased when she heard his tiny groan when she ran her tongue over his lips. She didn't want to stop but her lungs were screaming for air.

He pulled away first and she was left breathless. She didn't want to look lame but she couldn't help the grin that settled on her face.

She giggled. "I can't believe it."

Bruce cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in his pocket. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Reyna slowly lowered her arms and they rested by her side. He took a few steps back and avoided eye contact.

"I don't know what came over me," he persisted.

Reyna furrowed her dark eyebrows. "Wait, what? You just- we just _made out_ and you want to want to brush it off like it never happened?" She couldn't believe this was happening.

He sighed. "It _shouldn't _have happened."

Reyna crossed her arms over her chest. "But it did. So, what brought this on, exactly? Do you have feelings for me? Is that it?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Of course I don't."

She pursed her lips in annoyance now. "You don't? Okay, so you're just this horn dog that wanted to shove his tongue down my throat? Which one is it Bruce? You either like me or you don't. But you can't keep leading me on like this! It's not fair."

He took off his glasses and ran his hands over his face in frustration.

'Good,' Reyna thought. 'He should feel bad.'

"Reyna," he started with an even tone, "we can't be together and you know it. I am _way _too old for you and it's not safe to be around me. The other guy could come out at any moment and hurt you. I would never want that to happen."

"I don't care," Reyna said stubbornly.

Bruce frowned. "But I do! I'm not willing to put your life on the line just because I'm infatuated with you! I am too dangerous to be around! We can't keep doing this!"

She pointed angrily at the microscope. "Then what was all of this for? This could help you!"

"And even if it did, you're still too young for me!" His voice was raised now. "You need to let this go."

Reyna growled. "I'm a grown woman! Stop treating me like a child!" She turned away from him and began packing up her things. "Whatever. This is bullshit and you know it." She motioned towards the microscope again. "There's your cure. Do what you want with it."

She stormed out of the lab before she could say anything else or through the microscope out the window…She didn't understand why he had to be so difficult about the situation.

This day had gone to crap. First Peter stood her up that morning and then Bruce admitted he had feelings for her but didn't want to act on it. She was definitely in the mood for pajamas and ice cream when she got home.

* * *

A/N: Finally got some romance(ish) in this bad boy! Hope it was okay! Might get some action in the next chapter- not sure when I will be done with it since I've started my third class of the summer but hopefully it won't take too long! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this on their favorites and who read it! I really appreciate it!

Anything you guys want to see coming up in the next chapters? Please review!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Reyna watched wearily as Tony Stark tossed a vial of her "antidote" up in the air and caught it easily in one hand. He did this a few more times and she had to control herself to not reach over and stop him. This motion was making her nervous.

"You actually did it, huh?" he asked, continuing his toss. "I'm impressed. I guess I owe Pepper five bucks."

Reyna scoffed. "You actually placed a bet on me? Where have you been anyway?"

Tony caught the vial one last time and fully faced her now. "Just because I have this wonderful tower where I handle my business, doesn't mean that I live in New York. I live in California. You should come visit me sometime. It's a great place. So what have I missed while I was gone?"

Reyna glanced over at Bruce who was sitting a bit away from them and was trying to look invisible. It had only been a couple of days since their kiss but they hadn't talked since then or barely even looked at each other. Needless to say, it was an awkward environment now.

"We're in the process of testing my creation out to see if it will work on a living creature. We have some mice that we injected with Bruce- er, Dr. Banner's blood and once they were "Hulk-ified" we injected my… antidote, I guess, and watched them progress. So far, it's working and the mice have returned to normal. Once we know for sure that it's not fatal, we'll keep running vitals and maybe consider doing it for real. The whole idea still makes me anxious."

Tony waved her off. "That's good and all but not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?" Reyna asked unsurely.

"Is it just me or is there some serious sexual tension in this lab? It's just so stifling I can barely take it."

Reyna's eye widened. She could feel blood rush to her cheeks and felt suddenly uncomfortable.

"Tony!" Bruce snapped. "It's not like that so stop it!"

Tony smirked. "If that doesn't convince me, I don't know what else would."

Reyna had to agree. Bruce just made it fairly obvious that something really was going on between them. _Was _being the operative word since he insisted on being difficult.

"I always miss the good stuff," Tony continued. "How far did you guys get? Did you test out the sturdy tables? How good is the Doctor, huh Reyna?" Tony winked at her. At Bruce's cold look, Tony realized he should stop. "Okay, so you found a cure. Let's celebrate tonight. What'd you say to another fancy party, Morales? I can make sure they have more of those apple-tinis you like so much."

Reyna cleared her throat. That warm feeling overcame her body again realizing she couldn't make it tonight because she had a date with Peter. That same day- after the kiss debacle- she ran into Peter on her way home. She was ready to give him the cold shoulder for as long as it took but when he started apologizing profusely and telling her about how he needed to tend to his sick aunt she felt her heart melt. She didn't want to give in but his face looked so sincerely apologetic, she had to cave. Then he wanted to make it up to her by trying for another date so she agreed to it. She hadn't wanted Tony and Bruce to know about it though.

"I can't," she told him. "I have a…previous engagement."

"Movie night with the girls?" Tony asked sarcastically.

Reyna shook her head. "Actually, I have a date tonight."

"A date?" This came from both Tony and Bruce's mouth. Tony looked to Bruce who looked down at his hands.

"I didn't know you were seeing someone," said Tony. "And I know everything."

Reyna began flipping through some papers on the table to make herself look busy since all the attention was on her now. "I'm not dating anyone. We're just going on a date. It's no big deal."

Tony Stark walked closer to Reyna and put his face only inches from hers, scrutinizing her. "What's his name? We need to make sure he's good enough for you. And that he can handle himself against the Hulk."

Before Reyna could respond, commenting about how it was none of his business, JARVIS interrupted them. "Sir, Steve Rodgers is here to see you." Reyna had never been so thankful to hear the automated voice before. She could still see Bruce watching her from the corner of her eye though.

Tony broke eye contact with her to groan audibly and make an exaggerated show of his exasperation by throwing his hands in the air and rolling his eyes. "Don't let him in," he whined.

It was too late, however, because Steve Rodgers appeared in the lab, looking like he was on a mission. Reyna had seen what he looked like on the television but it was nothing compared to seeing Captain America in person. The best word to describe him was beautiful. He was a beautiful man with styled blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He definitely looked the part of the typical American. He was very tall and _very _muscled. For a moment, all Reyna could do was stare.

Steve glanced at everyone in the room and gave each a nod in greeting. "Stark. Dr. Banner. Ma'am."

"It's Reyna Morales," she told him. Her voice sounded awkwardly flirty and she wished she hadn't opened her mouth to begin with. She offered a smile and was almost giddy when he returned it.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Morales. I'm Steve Rodgers." He held out a hand for her to shake. She gladly took it.

"Captain America," she said. "I know."

"If it isn't Stars and Stripes, himself," Tony said. "What brings you here? D.C. not patriotic enough for you?"

"I heard about the attacks going on in the city and I wondered if you were going to put a stop to it or if you needed my help. Maybe it would do some good if we joined as the Avengers again to help the city."

Tony clapped his hands together and had a blank look on his face, not looking like he cared about the situation at all. "Hate to break it to you, Cap, but even though I will always be Iron Man, I don't exactly have a suit anymore. That part of my life is behind me. And Bruce here has a cure now to not be so green! Courtesy of Reyna."

Steve speared her with an intense glare and she instantly shriveled inside herself.

"How? I thought you couldn't get rid of the Hulk."

Reyna tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Mr. Stark hired me because of my theory that Dr. Banner has antibodies on his red blood cells which is the cause of his reactions when he gets emotionally excited. When you elute the antibodies off then you just have normal red cells. I've managed to come up with…a sort of serum to do the job but we're still testing on mice at this point."

"Miss Morales, I have no idea what you are talking," Steve told her. "But we need to do something about the attacks."

"Cap, it's not our job anymore," said Tony.

Bruce piped in now. "Last time we tried to save the city, we destroyed it. The people of the city don't want our help."

"Besides, I think Spiderman is doing a good job of protecting the city," Reyna said.

"Who's Spiderman? Another Avenger?" Steve asked.

Tony scoffed. "That amateur? Please don't tell me you like him. I'm supposed to be your favorite superhero!"

Reyna shrugged. "He's protecting the city. Plus, he saved me when I was attacked. You remember that one time, right? When I came to work all bruised and emotionally scarred. Spiderman was the one who saved me and I know he'll save the city if he has to." Reyna didn't mean to jab at them but she had started feeling annoyed when Tony was poking fun at Spiderman.

"Well, this Spiderman chose to be a hero," Bruce chimed in. "I don't think the Hulk would be so heroic if given the chance."

Bruce looked straight at Reyna and she knew he was upset.

"Maybe the Hulk will surprise you," she countered.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the lab now that was broken by Steve who asked Tony, "What's going on between them?"

Tony whispered loudly and obviously, "They like each other but won't do anything about it for some reason. They even kissed but are trying to pretend like it never happened."

So Tony did know what had happened with them. She figured as much since he had surveillance cameras everywhere. And he was unbelievably nosy. "You know we can hear you, right?"

Steve, ever the responsible adult asked, "Do you really think having a relationship with Dr. Banner is the safest thing? No offense Dr. Banner but we really need to think about Miss Morales' safety here."

Bruce nodded. "That's what I told her but she refuses to listen to reason."

Tony lifted up the vial of Reyna's serum and pointed at it in emphasis. "Helloooo? Cure! What more do you need?"

Reyna could have hugged him. "Thank you! So you're on my side then? I told him that but he refuses! I'm starting to think that it's not for my safety but that he actually doesn't like me. That's nothing new. I'm used to not being good enough." She faced Bruce. "Is it that I'm not smart enough? Pretty enough?"

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed with his frown. "Don't say that. It's not like that."

Reyna shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm going to check on the mice. I'll leave you to your superhero talk then."

As she walked out, she heard Tony mumble, "Do you think she likes Spiderman more than me? I thought girls were afraid of spiders…"

* * *

Reyna wasn't expecting much. She had the jittery feeling in her stomach but she couldn't shake the thought that she would be stood up again. It seemed like Peter did like her, he kept asking her out after all, so something really must have been going on for him to skip out on her.

He was actually on time for their date. He came to her front door and they headed out to a nearby restaurant for dinner. He was dressed like he usually was, jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, nothing too fancy but he still looked good.

It was definitely weird being on a date when she was still infatuated with Bruce but she secretly hoped that she would like Peter enough to forget about Dr. Banner. If age was the problem, maybe she needed to find someone that was in her age range then.

"You look nice," Peter told her after they ordered their drinks. He flashed a toothy grin that Reyna couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Why thank you. You look good too."

"Thanks for giving me a second chance," he told her. "I'm still really sorry about that."

Reyna waved a strict finger at him. "Just don't let it happen again. Your aunt is doing okay though, right?"

Peter blinked. "My aunt?"

Reyna nodded. "The sick one that you told me you had to take care of and that's why you missed our date.

Peter flashed a mischievous smile. "Right. I knew what you were talking about that. She's a lot better now."

She knew that was a suspicious response but she decided to look passed it. "So how's school going?"

They had amiable conversation throughout dinner and Reyna found that she actually did like his company. He was funny and smart and sometimes would even place his hand over hers. He seemed to like her and was even showing it. It was a good feeling.

"Still working with all those superheroes?" Peter asked.

Reyna laughed. "Yes, and they are all crazy. Captain America stopped by because he heard of the attacks on the city but Iron Man and the Hulk are convinced the city doesn't want them to help. I told them Spiderman has it covered and then they got jealous."

"Should I be jealous too?" Peter asked jokingly.

Reyna made to make a smart reply when an ear-splitting scream broke through the restaurant. Reyna jumped at the sudden sound and turned to see the source. At the entrance of the restaurant, a large man with dark hair and sunglasses covering his eyes blocked any escape. The most terrifying part of him was what looked like metal tentacles coming out from his back, wriggling menacingly at the innocent bystanders. The poor woman nearest him was the one who screamed and it was because one of the tentacles was snapping at her.

"I have reason to believe Spiderman is in here," the threatening man announced. "Just hand him over and nobody gets hurt."

The owner of the restaurant walked over to him and had a disgruntled look on his face. "Look buddy, Spiderman ain't here, so why don't you leave? This ain't good for business."

Instead of replying, one of the tentacles launched forward and wrapped around the man. He was thrown out of the window and then there was instant mayhem. Women were screaming and everyone was scrambling to get out.

Reyna jumped out of her seat, her heart now pounding against her chest. What should she do? Would it be safer to hide or make a run for it? Peter made the decision for her by grabbing her hand and heading towards the back door.

"C'mon!" he shouted.

Reyna ran after him trying not to get trampled in the process. As soon as they made it out of the building, Peter rushed them into a nearby alleyway and pushed Reyna farther into it. He made to leave her behind but she held onto his arm to stop him.

"Wait! Where are you going?!"

"Stay here!" he commanded.

Reyna shook her head. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. "If you go anywhere, then I'm coming with you!"

Peter groaned and tried to push Reyna back again. "You just can't, okay? Please, trust me. I _need _you to stay here."

"But why?" Reyna pleased. "You can't save all these people! You'll get hurt! I'll call Tony! Maybe he can help!"

Peter was looking very frustrated at Reyna's persistence but she didn't care. This was serious and she didn't want him getting hurt. He grabbed a fistful of hair like he was visibly struggling with his decision before taking a deep breath. He took off his shirt and pants to reveal a red and blue Spiderman suit underneath it. Reyna's mind refused to register what was standing in front of her and all she could do was gawk.

"Stay. Everything will be okay. I'm Spiderman, after all."

"Wha…?"

"I'll come back for you! Just stay hidden." He took the mask from his pocket and placed it over his head. With a single nod, he was off into the restaurant to help the people that were still left inside.

Reyna had to sit down. The ground was dirty but she didn't care at the moment. Peter Parker was Spiderman? How in the world did that happen? Who were those people that were after him? She was seriously considering moving back to North Carolina after this.

She took several deep breaths to calm herself down when droplets of water started raining down over her head. She frowned because when she had checked the weather early in the day, there wasn't even a one percent chance of rain. She glanced up and saw that there was a huge form of water standing over her and it had a face. She instantly recognized him as the water mutant from the news that was fighting Spiderman a few days ago. They had called him Hydro-Man.

Reyna opened her mouth to scream but the body of water crashed over her head completely engulfing her. She couldn't breathe. She tried to swim out but it was no use. She was trapped. The sound of his laughter resonated throughout his body, making her dizzy. Her lungs were screaming for air as her world began to darken.

* * *

A/N: Please review? They are greatly appreciated!


	8. Chapter Eight

A/N: So first things first, I don't know much about the world of Spiderman (except that Andrew Garfield is a hot Spidey) so for my villain group, Sinister Syndicate, they are based off the group in the Universal Studios ride, not from the actual comics.

Also, I want to apologize for this short, slightly rushed chapter. I just really wanted to get it up since I have finals this week and I know I will be too busy if I don't get it out now.

I hope it's satisfactory, though. Enjoy and review, please?

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Peter was embarrassingly outnumbered. The attempt from his foes had been a trick to lure him out and they succeeded. He was now up against Doctor Octopus, with his intimidating metal tentacles, Scream, the symbiote spawn, Hydro-Man, with his body completely made up of water, and the Hobgoblin, chucking explosive pumpkins everywhere. Electro usually joined them but he was as of recently behind bars. They called themselves the Sinister Syndicate and their main goal was simple; to rule everything. But they couldn't do it with Spiderman in the way.

He hoped that Reyna listened to him and stayed put in that alley. The last thing he needed to worry about was her safety in all of this; especially since she wouldn't be in harm's way if it weren't for him. This team had tried to take him on separately before but this was the first time they had all taken him on at once.

Peter swung back into the restaurant to see that most of the damage was done. There were hurt people on the ground but no one was dead. Doctor Octopus' retreating form came into his vision and he was carrying several unconscious people in his tentacles.

"Not so fast, Doc!" Peter shouted and made to follow after him but was thwarted mid-attack with a jump kick into his stomach. Peter flew back several feet and landed painfully on his back.

A snarling scream brought his attention back to the fight at hand and saw that Scream was standing over him. Drool was dripping from the razor sharp teeth and her wild yellow hair was whipping around like snakes. Peter was vaguely reminded of Medusa. She gave another warning roar and then ran after Doctor Octopus.

"Disgusting…" Peter mumbled. He stood up and wiped off the excess drool. He couldn't let them get away with the innocent people. He didn't know what the villains had planned for them but he was sure that it couldn't be good.

Peter ran after them but a sight stopped him dead in his tracks. Hydro-Man was there with the others and a lifeless form he recognized was floating inside of his body. Reyna was floating in the water; her eyes closed and her dark flowing around her. What did they want with her? He could feel anger rising in his chest knowing that he was at fault for this. If they really wanted to hurt him, then they should have just killed him when they had the chance. If they were bringing in other innocent people then there must be a diabolical plan brewing.

The annoying Hobgoblin flew into his view laughing like a hyena with his ugly gremlin-like face, blocking his view from the other members of the syndicate as they made their escape. "Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Time to blow you off the street!" The chortling continued and then he zoomed off.

Beeping at his feet caused Peter to look down and he saw that a mini orange bomb was ready to detonate.

"Crap!" he shouted. He shot out a web line from his wrist and jumped out of the way right in time to avoid the explosion. By this time, the syndicate was long gone.

Peter groaned. "That sucked!"

All he wanted to do was go out with a pretty, smart girl to help him get over Gwen and instead he put another girl's life on the line. He had to act fast because he didn't know what they had planned for her and how much time she had.

He knew exactly where he had to go. He was in the sky willing himself to get to Stark Tower fast enough. Peter couldn't do this alone and he hoped that knowing Reyna needed their help would give these so-called Avengers a boost in the right direction to come back out and help save their city.

He landed on the balcony of the tower. Was it the one-hundredth floor? Peter couldn't tell but it was obnoxiously tall. Taller than even the OsCorp tower. Why would Reyna work at such a gaudy-looking place? Could Stark be anymore ostentatious?

He ran to the nearest door and began banging on it. Someone had to be in because Reyna had worked all day. If they didn't come soon, he was just going to break through the window. "Let me in!" Peter shouted. "I need your help! It's important!"

"Are you the Spiderman I've been hearing about?" a voice asked from behind him. A tall, muscle-y blonde man was watching him apprehensively holding a round shield that was red, white, and blue in color. He had heard about Captain America but didn't know much about him since he tended to stay out of the limelight…unlike Stark.

"Yes, and I really need to talk to Stark," Peter explained. "It's important. Life or death situation."

Captain America shrugged. "Stark doesn't take kindly to intruders."

"What are you, paid muscle? I need to talk to Stark!"

"Son, you'll have to go through me," Captain America threatened. He crouched into a fighting stance and was prepared to throw his spangly shield. Peter had to think quickly.

"Reyna Morales is in trouble and I can't save her on my own. Please, I need Stark's help to save her."

Now knowing that there were people in danger, Captain America didn't hesitate. He led him inside of the building, deep within to the lab where Tony Stark was discussing something with another man. They both stopped their conversation when they saw Spiderman enter.

Tony laughed. "You've got to be kidding me! What, you get too tangled up in your own web that now you need my help? I knew this would happen one day."

Peter glared at him through the mask. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Why yes it is. I'm glad you noticed," Tony replied.

"If I knew you were such an ass I wouldn't have come to you for help," Peter told him. "But I know Reyna trusts you and that's why I came. She and a bunch of other innocent people have been taken by the Syndicate and I can't take them on alone."

Tony turned serious now. "Where was she taken?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know."

Tony Stark began pulling up different windows on his computer screen and typing wildly. "JARVIS, see if you can track Reyna using her employee ID. Hopefully she still has it on her."

The other man that was there was wringing his hands nervously. "Tell us about this syndicate."

Peter explained who they were and what they were capable of. As for what they had planned, he had no idea but urged them that they needed to hurry and that the syndicate couldn't be taken lightly.

"What I don't get is why you are so concerned with Reyna's well-being. What is she to you?" Tony interrogated. "How do we know this isn't just some trap to get to us?"

Peter gave a frustrated snarl. "We don't have time for this! Reyna is a friend and if you don't want to help then I'll find her on my own!"

"Sir, Reyna Morales has been taken to the outskirts of town in an abandoned warehouse. I'm sending you the address now." Peter jumped at the automated voice that came from nowhere.

"I'm glad I decided to come back," Captain America said. "Dr. Banner, Stark, it's time to suit up."

Tony waved at them as he began typing more things into the computer. "You guys go ahead. Take one of the cars in the garage and go to the address. I'm going to whip up something here to help out. I'll meet you there."

* * *

Reyna could hear noises around her, but her vision was dark. There was screaming, crying, and the sound of bodies jostling near her.

A sudden pressure on her chest forced her eyes open. The sensation of rapid water flow rising up her throat was overwhelming. She turned her head to the side and began coughing out water that had been suffocating her moments before. She took sputtering breaths as if her lungs were starved for it and her blurred vision started to clear.

The lighting was dim in what looked like a small room- the size of a car garage- in what she assumed was a much larger warehouse. The sewage smell was overpowering and she knew they must have been on the outskirts of town where the creepy abandoned warehouses stood. It seemed like a scene straight out of those gangster movies. There were about ten other people in room with her all looking frightened and as confused as she was. Reyna had to wrack her mind to recall how she ended up in this predicament. All she remembered was being on a date with Peter and then almost drowning in Hydro-Man. Maybe something about Spiderman fit in there. Everything was a blur and she was getting a headache.

"Are you alright?"

Reyna turned to the soft voice addressing her and saw that it belonged to a beautiful woman with light skin, dark hair, and brilliant blue eyes; she was probably in her thirties. She had a concerned look on her face and Reyna quickly realized that she had just been resuscitated by her.

Since Reyna hadn't found her voice just yet, all she could do was nod.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid I was too late."

Reyna coughed some more, this time covering her mouth, before asking, "Where are we? What's going on?"

"I have no idea," was her response. "They've taken us for some reason. I don't even want to think about what they are going to do with us. I'm Betty, by the way. Betty Ross."

That name sounded very familiar to Reyna but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. "Reyna Morales. Some date night this turned out to be…"

Betty gave a slight chuckle. "You were on a date then? I was stopping by to see if I could find an old friend before I was taken." She gripped the necklace she was wearing as if it were a lifeline to that friend.

Reyna took her eyes off the necklace and began looking around the room, trying to find a way out. There was a door, obviously, but she was sure that it was guarded. She tried her pockets, hoping her phone was still in there and gave an excited cry when she felt that it was. All she had to do was call Tony and she was safe! She pressed the home button on her iPhone…and nothing. She forgot that she almost drowned and that iPhones didn't do particularly well submerged in water.

"Damnit…" she groaned. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and start crying but for some reason she couldn't. She knew that she needed to be brave. "That would have been too easy…"

Betty suddenly grabbed her arm. "Someone's coming!"

Reyna had to suppress a whimper as she heard the nearing footsteps herself. The other people didn't hear this but Reyna and Betty gripped each other in fear. A large man with tight clothes and what looked like metal tentacles from his back entered the room. The women screamed and the men cursed.

The octopus man gave what sounded like an evil chuckle before saying, "You have been chosen for some of your outstanding qualities to take part in an experiment. You have the chance to be extraordinary and to join our team to take over the world. Who wants to go first?"

No one made a move. How would you even respond to something like that?

"What are you going to do with us?" Reyna asked fearfully. She didn't even know where that came from. "Whatever it is, we're not agreeing to this."

The man smirked. "That's the spirit we're looking for. You will be first." Reyna's eyes widened as she watched a long metal tentacle near her. It wrapped swiftly around her body easily lifting her off the ground. Her scream was lost in her throat as she was dragged away.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

A thrashing and screaming Reyna was dragged out of the room. "Let go of me you psycho! I'm not helping you!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs. Gone was the fear that she had moments before. Now she was just angry. The tentacle wrapped around her was tight and she was sick of being manhandled. "Why are you doing this? You're not going to get my cooperation!"

The man threw her into another room and she fell painfully on her back. The wind was knocked out of her and she had a hard time catching her breath. She was brought up roughly to her feet and then strapped down to a makeshift bed. Her head was spinning.

"She has spirit and brains," she heard the man tell others in the room. "She'll make a good first experiment." She blinked her eyes to clear her vision and take in the scene unfolding around her. There were definitely other in the room but it looked like a circus blew up in there with the strange characters surrounding her. The one that caught her attention the most was a black monster with menacing white and razor sharp teeth. She had a feminine figure and long orange hair. She was absolutely terrifying.

"You won't get away with this," Reyna shouted. She had to force the tears to stay in her eyes and not run down her cheeks. "I've got Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk on my side. They'll come after you for sure!" For some reason, Peter popped into her mind. He had pushed her out of the restaurant before…showing the Spiderman costume he had underneath his clothes. Reyna gasped involuntarily. "And Spiderman!" How could she forget that Peter was Spiderman?

The tentacled man scowled. "Is that so? I don't think they'll be on your side for much longer. They'll have a new nemesis to fight. Scream, bring the symbiote!"

The scary black monster brought him a large syringe filled with black liquid. Upon closer inspection, she could see a face in it, similar to that of Scream, with white eyes and sharp teeth. There was a creature in that vial.

"What the hell is that?" Reyna shrieked. She tried to worm her way out of her restraints but it was to no avail.

The man smiled wickedly. "A symbiote. A parasite, if you will that is eager to work with us. It just needs an able body. We have more just like it."

Reyna swallowed. "What will it do to me?"

Without a word, he motioned towards Scream.

Reyna's teeth began chattering in her nervousness. She started to hyperventilate now and the tears were free flowing. "Please don't do this," she whimpered. Dr. Octopus ignored her words and closed the space between them; the needle glistened threateningly in front of her eyes. "Please…"

In one swift motion, he stuck the needle into the fleshy part of her bicep and pushed the symbiote into her. The initial entrance of the needle left a sharp pain in her arm but she could feel the parasite slowly enter her. It was a warm feeling coursing through her veins but it was uncomfortable.

"It's only a matter of time," Dr. Octopus said excitedly. "The city will be at our mercy soon enough and no one will be able to stop us!"

"Think again Doc!" Spiderman stood at the other side of the room, having just arrived. He was breathing heavily as if he had rushed to the location. He shot out a web that covered Doc Ock's face. His other arms began flailing wildly which forced the other members of this sinister team to leap into action. Before they could even move a step, however, a giant green form bolted into the room, breaking through anything in its path. Reyna recognized him immediately as the incredible Hulk. This was the first time she had seen him in person but she could see where his catchphrase "Hulk Smash" came from. Captain America followed in shortly after.

Reyna was overcome with a feeling she had never felt before. Her body was completely hot and she knew she was sweating profusely. Her head was pounding and she thought her skull was going to split right down the middle. Reyna couldn't contain her scream as she felt something start to play with her brain. The parasite was settling into its new home and Reyna could feel everything.

Peter rushed to her side. "Reyna, you okay?"

The pain was so excruciating that she couldn't utter a single word. Peter realized this and said, "Stark, Rey needs serious help. I have to take her to the hospital. What? Are you sure? But there's something seriously wrong with her! Fine, I'll bring her back to the tower." He tore off the restraints and made to pick her up but she shoved him off her.

"No! There's something in me! You have to get it out!" Reyna was hysterical. She was crying, screaming, and scratching at the outer surface of her arm as if trying to get something out.

Spiderman held his hands in front of him and tried to calm her down. "Hey, it's okay. I'm just taking you back to Stark tower to make sure you aren't hurt. You're safe now."

Reyna shook her head violently. "No! I'm not! I'm a monster! It's going to take over! Get it OUT!"

Spiderman hesitated. "I wish I knew what you were talking about…" He forged ahead and picked Reyna up. She thrashed against him but he held on strong and made his escape, leaving Hulk and Captain America to finish off his foes at the moment.

Carrying a thrashing, one hundred and ten pound woman was not an easy thing for Spiderman to do as he swung across the city to get Reyna somewhere safe. He knew that Captain America would make sure the other innocent people would be saved as well as he took care of Reyna first. As soon as she was dropped off, he would return to help the others. He had no idea why Reyna was acting this way and only hoped they could help her out in time before any serious damage was done.

When he arrived back at Stark Tower, Tony Stark was there waiting for him. He had a dark look on his face when he saw the state Reyna was in and was quick to lead them inside. "I've sent a mini suit to help the others."

There was an infirmary on one of the floors and the area had been prepped for Reyna's arrival. Peter placed her on the bed and her convulsions were starting to slow down. She had her eyes tightly shut and she was breathing hard, like she was in pain.

"What did they do to her?" Stark asked, amazed. There was a doctor there who began setting Reyna up to different medical machines. As soon as she was touched, she began thrashing again and had to be restrained.

Peter placed his hands on his head in worry and began to pace near her bed. "I-I don't know. When I found her she was strapped to this bed and she was freaking out. Something about a monster inside her." He groaned. "This is all my fault! I should have never been around her. They were after me and I'm sure they saw us together!"

Stark walked over to Spiderman and placed a hand on his shoulders. "Don't blame yourself. Once Banner is un-Hulkified he'll check her out. He is an expert on monsters after all. There's nothing we can do for her now. Let's just go help the others."

* * *

'_You worry too much of what he thinks of you.' _

The voice startled Reyna awake. Her eyes fluttered open and she had no idea where she was. The room was bright white and the only sound that reached her ear was a constant beeping. She turned her head to see that she was attached to a machine.

Where had that voice come from? It sounded like a gravelly voice had been whispered into her ear but when she looked around there was no one there. How did she get there?

'_You worry that he won't care for you like you care for him.'_

"Who's there?" Reyna asked tentatively. No response.

She reached up to scratch her itching arm when she felt something abnormal. Glancing at her arm, she saw that there was a small lesion present, but it was completely black. It had a gooey consistency and that's when it hit her. The symbiote parasite. She would become a monster.

Before she could control herself, she let out a blood-curdling scream. She watched as the lesion disappeared underneath her skin and began moving on its own throughout her arm. She tried to grab at it but she couldn't reach it. She sat up abruptly and began having a panic attack. She wanted to rip her arm off. She wanted to tear her skin clean off.

The door burst open and a compilation of super heroes spilled into the room.

"What's going on?"

"Are you okay?"

"What's wrong with her?"

Bruce reached her first. He firmly gripped her forearms and forced her back in the bed. She was lying on her back now, trying to control her tears. Bruce watched her reactions with a concerned look on his face.

Staring into his dark eyes, Reyna could feel her body start to relax. She could still feel the foreboding presence in her body but it wasn't as strong now. Still crying, she muttered, "I'm a monster."

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? A monster?"

Reyna's face scrunched up in anguish at the thought of explaining what had happened to Bruce. He was sure to shy away from her now after he would know what was invading her body.

At the sight of her renewed tears, he began to shush her gently. "It's okay. You're safe now. I just need you to calmly tell me what happened so I can help you. Do you think you can tell me?"

Reyna nodded slowly. Bruce let go of her arms and allowed her to sit up in her bed. She looked at the others in the room with them; Tony had his arms crossed over his chests trying to look nonchalant but failing miserably since he looked genuinely upset at the state she was in, Steve was standing in the corner, watching Reyna curiously, and Peter was on the other side of her bed. She couldn't see his face since he still had the Spiderman mask on but she assumed he was worried as well.

She looked down at her shaking hands and tried to get a grip on herself. Bruce saw this and placed a large hand over hers. This did help her feel slightly better.

"They said… they told me they were creating new members for their team. I don't remember why but I tried to stand up to one of them and they chose me first to experiment on. They-they strapped me down and told me they had these parasites with a mind of their own that needed a host to help them." She held onto her arm with her free hand and felt a new wave of tears hit her again. "They put it in my arm…I can feel it picking my brain. It's like it's hiding out in my body waiting for the opportunity to get out." She held onto Bruce's hand tightly. "Please get it out of me. I'm scared."

"I will. I promise."

A hand touching her back caused her to jump. Peter had inched closer and tried to comfort her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you," he apologized. "It's like Gwen all over again…"

"Peter…it's not your fault."

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her small frame. She could tell that he was very upset and tried her best to comfort him, even though she needed comforting herself.

"Some date that was…" he said sarcastically.

"Reyna!" It was a woman's voice this time. She wasn't used to this much attention and she really wasn't sure how she felt about it. Betty was standing at the entrance of the room, looking relieved to see that Reyna was alive. Reyna was glad to see that Betty was unharmed but was very confused at her presence. "You made it out in one piece! I'm so glad!" Betty walked over and placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder.

Reyna noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "You two know each other?" She motioned between Bruce and Betty.

Betty nodded with a smile. "He was the friend I came here to see. We were engaged once so we know each other pretty well."

Reyna blinked. She glanced at Bruce who refused to meet her eye.

'_See? He doesn't love you. There is another who has his heart. This feeling of despair will consume you.'_

* * *

A/N: This update was way sooner than I was expecting! I guess I was just on a roll! Please review!


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

'_Despair.'_

The word kept swirling around in her head like an annoying fly that wouldn't leave her alone. It was the same raspy voice that kept whispering it in her mind and it took all of Reyna's willpower not to rip her hair out.

'_You will be the embodiment of despair.'_

Reyna groaned. "I don't wanna be anything…"

"What was that?"

Reyna sat up in the bed she was ordered to stay in to see Peter walk into her room. He was dressed like himself, having decided to leave his Spidey-suit behind. Tony was the most shocked to see that Spiderman was such a young guy, expecting him to be a grown man (which technically he was but not according to Tony). He was dressed casually in a graphic gray t-shirt, a simple blue hoodie, and jeans. The concerned look on his face was what stood out over everything. He reached her side and she had to look away guiltily. She really did feel horrible about how she was feeling; Peter was so worried about her well-being and all she was thinking about was how Bruce was spending his time with his beautiful, smart, kind ex-fiancé.

"Nothing…" she mumbled in reply. "I'm so bored that I think I'm going crazy."

Peter nodded in understanding. "How are you feeling?"

"Not sick, if that's what you mean. Any new info on this alien species inside me? I feel okay for now but it could be eating me from the inside for all I know." She said it jokingly but the very thought of that terrified her.

"We've all been taking turns studying that black goo that came from your arm but we haven't had much luck yet. Probably because it's not from this world. But we won't give up and you'll be better in no time!"

Reyna nodded distractedly. "Sounds good."

Peter ran a hand through his already messy, dark hair. He trained his brown eyes on her and she had to force herself not to look away. It was an intense look. When he placed a hand on the side of her face and began rubbing his thumb against her cheek, she flinched.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he whispered. "You're okay now." Then he did the worst possible thing; he leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn't a bad kiss, actually it was very nice. He was a really good kisser! But unfortunately, she really wasn't feeling it. The nagging voice in her head was louder in her head now, yelling about how he was nothing and that he would be crushed- by her.

"Ahem."

Peter pulled apart first and just grinned as Bruce stood awkwardly at the doorway. He didn't even bother to look embarrassed and kept his hand on Reyna's face. "Kinda busy here, bodyguard. Can I help you?"

Bruce raised his eyebrows, trying to conceal an amused smile. "I wanted to check on Reyna's vitals. Make sure she was doing alright. Should I come back later?"

"No, no, you do your job doc," Peter conceded. "I gotta head to class." He faced Reyna again and pecked her on the lips. "I'll stop by after to see you." He stood up to leave and goofily took a bow in front of Bruce before making his exit.

If Reyna were herself, she would have laughed. She would have found him cute and would have enjoyed the kiss that Peter gave her. Then she would have been embarrassed to have been caught by Bruce. But she wasn't herself at the moment. When she saw the look on Bruce's face at having seen them, she felt irritated. So much so that she actually became angry. Upset.

Bruce stepped forward into the room, holding his hands up like he was mock-surrendering. "Didn't mean to interrupt." He took the stethoscope from around his neck and held onto it as he approached her bed.

Instead of responding to that comment, she snapped, "How's Betty?"

Bruce paused for a moment but then acted like she never said anything. He placed the end of the stethoscope on her back and listened to her heartbeat.

"That good, huh?" Reyna replied sarcastically. "That didn't take you long to get back together. She seems really nice. Plus you guys have history. It was just a matter of time."

"Your heart has accelerated abnormally. How are you feeling? You don't look flushed."

Reyna had no idea why she was feeling so frustrated. Even if she really were angry with Bruce she wouldn't be acting like this. It was like an out-of-body experience where she could see what she was doing like it was another person acting out but she couldn't stop herself from lashing out. What was wrong with her? She tore the stethoscope off of her and glared at Bruce.

"Why aren't you answering me?"

"You and Spiderman looked cozy," was Bruce's response. A guilty look crossed his features immediately but he remained silent after that.

"I'm tired. Can you leave?"

It didn't take long after Bruce left for Reyna to start crying. She didn't know where that profound anger came from but it was not her. She couldn't even stop herself from saying the words that were coming out of her mouth.

'_He toys with your heart. He brought on that despairing emotion by returning to that woman when he should be with you.'_

She glanced down at her arm to see that the lesion that had been on her arm had expanded and now there was what looked like black goo fitted over her right arm like a glove. There were talons where her finger nails should have been. The new gloves were smooth to the touch but this new appendage only increased the panicky turmoil swirling in Reyna's head. She didn't scream- even though she wanted to- as to not alert anyone that something was wrong.

It didn't go away for the rest of the day but she tried her hardest to keep it hidden beneath her sheets. It proved to be more difficult than she anticipated when Tony came by to pay her a visit.

"Hey sleeping beauty," he said, upon entering her room. "How 'ya feelin'?"

"I've been better."

Tony nodded and pulled up a chair next to her bed. "Heard about your bitch fit. You seem to be better now though. I would say green isn't your color, you know, like envy. But I guess you do like green seeing as you have a thing for the Hulk."

Reyna blinked at his choice of words but didn't say anything.

"Oh but wait, turns out you might really not have a thing for green after all. I was wondering why you were so 'team Spidey' before but now I see it's because you're dating him. So, if you're dating Spiderman, why are you leading Bruce on? Why do you care if Betty is back?"

"He's not my boyfriend," was Reyna's lame reply. "Spiderman and I have only been on one date and that's only because Bruce didn't want to do anything with me. Why are you taking his side on this?"

The anger within her was flaring again and she sent an intense glare his way. Who did he think he was? She was infected with some disgusting parasite that was probably eating her from the inside and all he wanted to scold her about her relationships- or her lack thereof.

Tony's eyes suddenly widened and he jumped up from his seat. "Your eyes!"

The rage suddenly left her body and she closed her eyes tightly as if to clear her vision. When she opened them again Tony was inching towards the door. "Uh…what?" She honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

"I'm just going to go get Bruce. He'll want to know about this."

At the mention of Bruce, her heated alter ego reared its ugly head. Without realizing it, her body leaped up from the bed and blocked the door before Tony could escape. He jumped back in surprise. She placed her hand on the door and watched as the black on her arm began expanding to cover her entire body. Once she was covered and the goo began surrounding her face, her world went dark.

* * *

"It's so amazing to see you again, Bruce. I thought you'd be gone forever but when I saw you- the Hulk- saving the city from the aliens, I couldn't believe it. So you can control him now?"

Bruce watched Betty's lips move as she continued to talk to him but he couldn't focus on the words coming out of her mouth. The image of Reyna's upset expression and the tone of her voice just wouldn't leave his mind and it was eating him up inside. He knew there was something wrong with her, but it still hurt to have her react to him in that way. What made him feel even worse was the fact that he was being so affected by it. It was obvious to everyone that he really cared about her but he still couldn't bring himself to show it.

"I'm sorry…what was that?" Bruce asked.

Betty didn't look annoyed and just continued talking. Bruce still wasn't listening.

A loud crash nearby caused them both to stop. Bruce furrowed his eyebrows and stood up from his seat. He held a hand in Betty's direction as if to stop her from moving and said, "Stay here." He exited the room and made his way towards where he thought he heard the noise.

"Hello? Is everything alright?"

Another crash reached his ears and with a heavy heart he realized it was coming from Reyna's room. He picked up his pace and began running down the hall. When he reached the door, he threw it open and stared at the scene, unsure of what he was looking at.

Tony was on the ground, breathing heavily with a bloody lip. He was holding on to his side and glaring at a strange form standing over him. It was something he had never seen before. It was clearly female, due to its shape and size but it wasn't human. She was completely black from head to toe in what looked like a body suit. She had sharp claws and even sharper teeth but the most unnerving part of her entire look was her snow white eyes. It was a monster and Reyna was nowhere to be seen.

"Took you long enough," Tony commented sarcastically. "I haven't been able to make a getaway. Think you can Hulk out and help me out?"

The monster made to attack Tony again but once she realized that Bruce was in the room, she trained her empty eyes on him and roared. Bruce had to admit, it was pretty terrifying.

"Where's Reyna?" Bruce asked. He could feel the Hulk getting ready to show his face.

"That is Reyna."

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry for this chapter taking forever! I've been so busy! I vacationed at Disney (which was amazing!) and now I'm back at work doing my internship working in a lab! No, it's not the Blood Bank lab, but I'm in Microbiology and I literally have no time for anything after I get back home. I'm just glad I finally got this one out. And of course it's really short...sorry guys. I hope it was okay though. Please review!


	11. Chapter Eleven

****A/N: It's been so long! This last year of college has just been crazy busy! Anyway, it's a short one but I wanted to get something out here for you guys to read! Hopefully it won't be so long until another update! Hope you guys enjoy it though! Enjoy and review!

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

There was an entire floor in Stark Tower dedicated to research…and it was completely in shambles. The monster that had taken hold of Reyna's body leaped towards Bruce, ready for the kill, but was intercepted by a giant, green, Hulk. The Hulk held up a large fist and easily punched out the monster, sending her flying across the room and into the wall.

The Hulk let out a deafening roar, causing Tony to quickly cover his ears and vacate the room. "Alright buddy, I'm gonna get the spare to help you out!"

'_I will destroy you!' _She screeched in a raspy voice, directing her anger towards the Hulk. She roared herself, drool dripping down her jaws menacingly.

It was now a roaring match. He grabbed the monster by the foot and threw her through the wall this time, where she continued flying through several more. This distance seemed to please the Hulk for he smiled and said, "Rey. Mine."

Coming at full speed, she lurched towards him once again and this time, managed to form long black needles from her skin and shoot them directly at his face. His hide was impermeable however and had no effect. The Hulk didn't even blink and swiped her away like an annoying fly.

Instead of coming for another attack, the black creature hissed and then retreated. The Hulk, unsatisfied with this, followed quickly after her but he lost sight of her. He stood there for a moment scratching his head, unsure at how she could have escaped so suddenly. He roared angrily and chased after the creature blindly, destroying more of the tower in his wake.

* * *

Peter hadn't expected to kiss Reyna earlier but he was really glad that he did. After Gwen's untimely death he didn't think that he would ever date again. He wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that something bad happened to another one of his girlfriends but Reyna was different. She was intelligent, like Gwen had been, but she was also surrounded by other unnaturally gifted guys as well so that if something did happen and he was unable to save her himself, her bodyguards would be there. That made Peter feel a bit better about the whole situation.

The goofy grin didn't leave his face all throughout the day. He was sure he scared some people in his class but he hadn't felt this good in a long time. He looked forward to more dates with her in the future.

There was an unexpected scramble when he entered Stark Tower. Most of the building was destroyed and Peter quickened his pace to make sure everyone was alright. He had no idea what had happened in his absence but he was sure going to find out.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were looking a little worse for wear amongst the rubble, Tony more beaten up than Bruce but both slightly ruffled. They were conversing amongst themselves quietly but looked up when Peter entered the main area.

"What the hell happened?" Peter asked. He scanned the area for Reyna but she was nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?"

"Hey, kid," Tony started, "grownups are talking here, okay?"

"God, I leave her alone with you guys for a few hours and something happens to her?" Peter complained. "Aren't you super heroes? You should have protected her! Do you even care?"

Tony snapped, "Watch it! In case you haven't noticed, Reyna was in danger on your watch first. Remember? You're little dinner date when she got that symbiote forced into her. Well, that thing has taken over her body and she escaped."

Peter crossed his arms over his chest. "Was she too much to handle, Iron Man?" he asked sarcastically.

Bruce, who was silent during this exchange, decided to speak up. "The other guy tried to stop her but she was too quick."

The destruction of the tower was starting to click in his mind. "So, Reyna's body was taken over by an alien species and she battled against the Hulk and got away. Have you guys even tried to look for her? Have any idea where she could be?" Peter faked looking around the room, like he was actually looking for someone. "And where's your lovely girlfriend in all of this?"

Bruce spared him a glare. "I told her it'd be safer at a hotel but she's not my girlfriend."

Peter watched Dr. Banner's mannerisms carefully throughout this conversation. At any mention of Reyna and he grew very tense and looked almost unsure. It was all starting to click. "You're in love with her," he stated. It wasn't a question but more like an accusation. "You're truly in love with her."

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not in love with her."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Fine. You _really_ like her. Doesn't it bother you that she's like twenty years younger than you? Shouldn't you be looking for people your own age?"

Tony took a step towards Peter, seething now. "That's it, kid. You're off the team. No one disrespects my friends in my own place. Looks like Spiderman will never be an Avenger." He turned his back on Peter and faced his friend. "C'mon Doc. We've got to save Reyna…from Spidey-boy's enemies, no less. Imagine that."

* * *

Reyna had a splitting headache. She wanted nothing more than to pop some ibuprofen and down it with a tall glass of water. Maybe get a massage as well because she had a crazy crick in her neck. She groaned loudly as she sat up from the hard ground that had somehow become her bed. She couldn't remember how she had gotten where she was- some decrepit looking building- but she definitely recalled the events leading up to getting there. Whatever was inside Reyna had actually taken her over. It was the oddest sensation because she was aware of everything going on but she had no control. Lucky for her she didn't feel anything when her body was fighting with the Hulk. She could understand why Bruce didn't like the other guy, but he was still pretty impressive.

"So you're awake," a voice said, in the darkness.

Reyna whipped her head to find the source of the voice and instantly regretted it. Her headache intensified greatly. "Who's there?"

When the man came into her view, she had to force down the feeling of dread that overcame her body. She recognized him almost immediately; the man who pretty much ruined her life. He stood there watching her with a smirk on his face as his eight mechanical arms danced around him menacingly. "You may call me Doctor Octopus and I was the one who created you. My Despair."

Reyna stood up. "I don't understand."

"We've been running experiments with the symbiote, seeing how they will take to their human hosts. A couple of them have been successful; you've seen Scream. Your body took well to the parasite and it is feeding off the despair that you are feeling. I haven't seen your new powers in action but I am sure they are striking. You will make an excellent addition to our team, _Despair_."

Reyna furrowed her dark eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. She knew she shouldn't be pushing her luck with this man, but the way that he just assumed she would help him really rubbed her the wrong way. "What makes you think I'm going to help you?"

Doctor Octopus offered her a grin, but it wasn't reassuring. "I think we can find a way to persuade you."

The other members of his team stepped out of the shadows and circled around Reyna, cancelling out any means of escape.


End file.
